Latin America: Revolution and Reaction into the 21st Century

1
Latin America Revolution and Reaction into the
21st Century

• C33
• EQs Why was Latin America so unstable in the
  20th C? Why did the US intervene so much?

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Introduction

• Latin America in the 20th century experienced
  many revolutions and many reactions to
  revolutions
• As the 20th century closed, Latin America has
  positioned itself between Western nations and
  third world nations, thanks in part to heavy
  western investment
• Still, political and social injustice dating back
  to colonial and post colonial days remain, as do
  issues of economic security, surging population
  growth in urban areas and emigration to the US
• It terms of economics and politics, very little
  change has occurred, however, education, social
  services, womens rights and the role of industry

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After World War II

• Latin America saw very little action during the
  warbut economies grewBrazil developed a steel
  industry with the help of the US
• New political upheavals emerged in several
  nations, Argentina being a key example as a
  military group forced Juan Peron out of power,
  and led several dirty wars to purge the country
  of its opponents
• Mexico continued to be controlled by the PRI
  (Party of the Institutionalized Revolution),
  however, the party very slowly continued the
  promised reforms of the Mexican Revolutionthis
  angered many amongst the lower classes who were
  still waiting for the land (ejidos)
• Guerrilla movements formed, mainly in southern
  Mexicoa group known as the Zapatistas responded
  to PRI corruption with revolts, that were often
  met with civil repression from the PRI government
• By the end of the 20th century, the negotiation
  of NAFTA with the US and the ultimate defeat of
  the PRI by the PAN (Conservative Party) brought
  new change to Mexico, the results of which are
  not completely clear

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Radical Options in the 1950s

• Political unrest still plagued most of Latin
  America post-WWIIin several countries, Marxist
  revolution became the norm
• In Bolivia, a socialist rebellion rose against
  the 6 of the population that controlled all the
  wealth in the nationthough successful with
  nationalization policies, Bolivia fell back into
  control by a military caudillo by 1964
• Guatemala experienced more radical attempts at
  reformthe majority of the population was poor,
  illiterate, had no land and the overall economy
  was based on the coffee and banana market
• In 1944, Juan Jose Arevalo was elected due to
  promises of sweeping reforms (income tax and
  business nationalism)these were in conflict with
  the powerful United Fruit Coanother free
  election in 1951 saw the rise of General Jacobo
  Arbenz to powermore radical, Arbenz opposed
  further foreign intervention in Guatemalan
  affairsArbenz took a pro-socialist approach,
  attempting to redistribute unused land to
  peasantsfears of Communism led to the US backing
  a military coup in 1954 the government was
  replaced with a caudillo, Arbenz was strangled
  for the good of democracy and capitalism, and
  land reforms were halted
• Sadly, the regime established by the US would
  become oppressive, leading to a long civil war in
  Guatemala that led to the massacres of many Mayan
  natives and peasants

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Viva Cuba!!!

• Cuba became the US own private sugar plantation
  after it was secured from the Spanish in 1898as
  a result, a growing disparity emerged between
  rural laborers and the large middle class and
  wealthy landowners who benefited from direct
  trade with/investment from the US
• Fulgencio Batista rose to power on promises of
  reforms, political, economic and social in
  nature, however, was as corrupt a leader as they
  come, lining his pockets with bribes from US
  businessmen
• The alternative was a young lawyer named Fidel
  Castro who led an unsuccessful revolution in
  1953he left Cuba and joined forces with Che
  Guevara in Mexico, and, with a small military
  force, returned to Cuba in 1956 to being a
  revolution which promised better living
  conditions to the rural poor, better pay and
  working conditions to the proletariat (middle
  class workers)whether or not Castros original
  intentions were Marxist in nature has never been
  clarifiedthe US had abandoned the corrupt
  Batista by 1958

6
Viva Cuba!!!

• What resulted was Castros immediate
  nationalization of Cuban interests, a break from
  relations with the US and an increase of support
  from the Soviet Unionthe US responded with the
  failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the brink
  of nuclear war was almost reached with the Cuban
  missile crisis of 1962
• None-the-less, Cuba prospered somewhat under the
  Castro regime, with improvements in social areas
  but less success economically (largely led to a
  US led embargo)the Cuban model was attempted to
  be spread throughout Latin America thereafter, in
  places like Nicaragua (Sandanistas) and Grenada
  but failed, mainly due impart again to US
  interventions
• The only Latin American nations lately that have
  attempted to successfully model the Cuban
  Socialist model, with much dismay to the US, are
  Venezuela and Brazil

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Other Reforms and Military Options

• Other traditions institutions remained or
  regained power in politics in the late 20th
  centurythe Catholic Church made a comeback
  starting in the 1950s in Chile and Venezuela as
  Christian Democrats were elected on platforms
  promises reforms and an end to social
  injusticepriests even got radical (Father Torres
  in 1960s Colombia)
• In the 70s, a new movement known as liberation
  theology emergedit stressed a combination of
  Catholic social/charitable theology w/Marxist
  socialist ideologyin short, the movement
  stressed Jesus and faith in the church as the
  savior to the peoples issuesresponse was mixed
  as the right claimed the movement to be too
  radical (Pope John Paul II even criticized
  it)several clergy were assassinated (Romero in
  El Salvador)
• Military dictatorship still reigned supreme,
  however, in many areas, all thanks, in part, the
  US, who saw dictators as a better option in
  several nations (Brazil, Argentina, Chile,
  Uruguay, and Peru) as a better option to
  Communism
• All dictators placed in power reigned on
  nationalist principles, however, their economic
  policies remained pro-West, which stifled the
  working class and the poorthough areas such as
  health and education improved, basic wage
  payments, land ownership and living conditions
  did not

8
New Democratic Trends

• Democracy began to be filtered into LA nations
  (particularly the ones with dictatorships) in the
  70s and 80s, though the path was not an easy one
• Argentinas military dictator was replaced in
  1983 after the military lost the Falkland Islands
  WarBrazil saw elections for a congress in 1985
  and a new president in 1989Peru faced guerrilla
  resistance from the leftist Shining Path
  movementNicaragua had to deal with the leftist
  Sandinista party in the 80sPanama called on the
  US to ouster its drug peddling dictator in 1989
  (Noriega)Guatemalas civil war was finally over
  by the 90s and a civilian government was in power
  by 1996
• Despite democracy, leftist/socialist ideology
  still managed to gain power in several nations
  (Brazil w/ Lula and Venezuela w/Chavez), only
  threatening to alter a Pro-Western foreign policy
  (meaning, anti-US)

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The US in Latin America Timeline

• The first time the US got directly involved in
  Latin America was the Mexican War (Texan War of
  Independence)we gained great portions of
  territory from that war by 1848.
• The next time we got directly involved in Latin
  America was the Spanish American War (1898)we
  helped the Cubans fight for independence
• This event opened the door for Teddy Roosevelt to
  introduce his Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
  Doctrine (Speak softly and carry a big stick)
• This policy would open a new wave of investments
  in Latin America and would establish a clear
  presence of the United States in the region

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The US in Latin America Timeline

• 1901- Platt Amendment to Cuba's new constitution
  gives the U.S. the unilateral right to intervene
  in the island's political affairs.
• 1903 - Theodore Roosevelt intervenes to assist
  Panamanian independence from Colombia. The
  resulting Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty makes the US
  sovereign "in perpetuity" in the ten-mile wide
  Panama Canal Zone.
• 1904 - (Theodore) Roosevelt's Corollary to the
  Monroe Doctrine declares the U.S. to be the
  policeman of the Caribbean. US forces place the
  Dominican Republic under a customs receivership.
• 1905 - US Marines land in Honduras.
• 1912 - United Fruit Company begins operations in
  Honduras and later becomes a major force
  throughout Central America (Banana Republics).
• 1914 - US forces shell and then occupy Vera Cruz,
  Mexico.
• 1915-1934 - US Marines intervene/occupy Haiti.
• 1916-1917 - US Expeditionary Force under Gen.
  John J. "Black Jack" Pershing unsuccessfully
  pursues Pancho Villa in northern Mexico.
• 1916-1924 - US Marines occupy the Dominican
  Republic

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The US in Latin America Timeline

• 1920-1921 - US troops support a coup in
  Guatemala.
• 1926-1933 - US Marines occupy Nicaragua and fight
  against the nationalistic forces led by Augusto
  César Sandino.
• 1933 - US offers to intervene in El Salvador to
  put down a peasant rebellion. The Salvadoran
  military dictator refuses, then murders thousands
  of peasants.
• 1936-1979 - US supports three different Somozas
  as dictators of Nicaragua.
• 1954 - CIA overthrows constitutional government
  of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala.
• 1956 - US-supported dictator Anastasio Somoza
  assassinated in NicaraguaUS military intervenes
• 1957-1986 - Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier rule
  Haiti as dictators, with US support.
• 1958 - Vice President Richard Nixon meets strong
  anti-American sentiment on his "good will" tour
  of Latin America.
• 1959 - Dictator Fulgencio Bastista, supported by
  the US until 1958, flees Castro's revolution in
  Cuba.

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US Latin American Policies

• Tafts Dollar Diplomacy, which led to increased
  US investment in Latin American interests (United
  Fruit Co. and the Banana Republics)
• Roosevelts Good Neighbor Policy of 1933, which
  attempted to reduce numerous interventions into
  LAit was short lived after WWII with the advent
  of Communism and containment
• Kennedys Alliance for Progress in 1961 aimed
  to redirect investment in LA and reduce LA debt
  to US companiesit failed as elites mostly
  benefited AND Kennedy was assassinated
• Latter policies in LA were more lessez faire,
  leaving LA alone and holding friendly relations
  with established dictatorshipswe even gave
  Panama promised to give the canal back to Panama
  (1978 treaty from Carter, canal went back on Dec
  31, 1999)while Reagan and Bush Sr. actively
  replaced counterrevolutionary elements in several
  Central American nations in the 80s (Panama, El
  Salvador, Nicaragua)

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Social Issues A Summary

• Social changes in Latin America has come slowly
  during the 20th century, despite the active role
  women played in revolutions (Mexico)
• The position of women has improved, as their
  status now rivals those living in western
  EuropeWomen received suffrage in many LA
  countries in the 1920s and by the 1950s the
  overwhelming majority of LA nations gave women
  the right to vote (mainly through suffrage
  movements similar to those of the US and Europe)
• Eventually, women found roles in politics and the
  workforce as wellin 1911 80 of the textile
  industry in Argentina was women employedthough
  wages and benefits remained unequalwomen are
  still considered unskilled labor
• women by the 90s represented 9 of the
  legislative bodies of LAin some countries,
  notable women became leaders (Isabel Peron in
  Argentina, Violeta Chamorro in Nicaragua,
  Benedita da Silva in Brazil)

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Social Issues A Summary

• Migration has been the biggest issue in recent
  yearsboth internal and external
• Latin Americas population surged in the 20th
  centuryusual reasons included the need for more
  labor sources in poor families both agricultural
  and industrial
• Labor drove huge mass migrations of rural people
  to the cities first in the 70s and 80swhile
  international migration has been generally common
  place since the 1920s, as cheap labor migrated
  across the borders north, from Mexico to the US,
  Guatemala to Mexico and so on
• In other nations, political repression
  represented the main reason for migration of
  refugees (Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador)
  into Mexico or the US
• Results have caused negative impacts in many
  nations, the biggest being urban povertyslums
  and shantytowns spring up on the edges of large
  urban areas (favelas)political attempts to
  relieve this stresses have largely failed
• In the long run, issues in Latin America remain,
  as social injustices, political repression,
  inequalities and population growth (less urban)
  continue into this century

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THIS WEEK

• Tuesday Film on US involvement in Latin America
• Wednesday Change Analysis on 20th C Latin
  America
• Thursday THE AP EXAM
• Friday Final Exam Project and SS DSTP discussion