Chapter 32 Outline - Ap World History 6v632g

Latin America: Revolution and Reaction into the 21st Century Chapter Summary: The fact that Latin America separated from its colonizers very early in world history compared to other European colonies in Asia and Africa, and the fact that it struggled to lessen dependence on the world economy and to find distinct political and cultural forms instead of fighting for independence like its Asian and African counterparts puts Latin America into a distinct category. Although Latin America put emphasis on agriculture and mineral production, industrialization took place, and as a result, workers’ unions grew stronger and gained influence in politics, as did the newly formed middle class.

Latin America After World War II Political patterns shifted from time to time between maintaining the status quo and economic crisis. Although Latin American philosophy stressed revolutionary change during the 20th century, it was difficult for revolutionaries to persuade an entire population and revolutions did not take place after 1945. Latin American education, social services, and the role of women changed as many areas of Latin American life improved.

Mexico and the PRI From 1940 until 2000, Mexico remained controlled by the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (PRI), which incorporated labor, peasant, military, and middle-class sectors in the earth 20th century. Corruption and repression were present for several decades, and although the government instituted NAFTA with the United States, it feared decline in the economy and a country that would fall apart. In 2000, the PRI political monopoly was ended when a new political party, the National Action Party (PAN), led by Vicente Fox, who promised to clean up corruption and improve conditions for Mexican workers in the US, gained power.

Radical Options in the 1950s The populist authoritarian regimes in Argentina and Brazil was one solution to the growing interest in improving social and economic conditions, and there were many other solutions, and that was the one question that remained unanswered throughout the region. Democratic reform and Marxist socialism, both primary options, were feared because of the fear of response from the two superpowers. Failure of social and economic development sometimes led to radical revolutionary options, which were successful at first, but fear of moving too far left towards the political spectrum led to subsequent governments being more interested in maintaining order.

Guatemala: Reform and U.S. Intervention A first radical solution was tried in Guatemala, a predominantly Indian nation suffering from illiteracy, poor health conditions, and high mortality rates. The economy depended upon the export of coffee and bananas. Juan Jose Arevalo, who instituted land reform through a new constitution, came into direct conflict with the United Fruit Company, which operated inside Guatemala. After Colonel Jacobo Arbenz was elected, a more radical nationalist government was put in place. When plans to expropriate United Fruit lands were announced, the Cold War government of the United States intervened by taking down the radical Arbenz government and putting a pro-U.S. government with minimal reform, leaving Guatemala still very poor.

The Cuban Revolution: Socialism in the Caribbean Cuba, a country with a fairly stable economy based on sugar and a middle class in its capital, Havana , but dependent on the world economy with a very poor rural class, needed reform. Although Fulgencio Batista instituted a democratic constitution and promised major changes, corruption within the government led to opposition. Fidel Castro, a leftist lawyer, fled Cuba after trial and formed an army with Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentinian revolutionary, to invade Cuba and take down Batista’s government. After Castro became radical, the United States stopped ing him. What happened next is debatable as we don’t know whether or not Castro was already Marxist-Leninist, or he made pragmatic choices for reform in the name of improving Cuba. Castro launched sweeping change reforms, expropriating private property, collectivizing agriculture, and putting a centralized socialist economy in place. Because of this, the United States became very hostile towards Cuba, while the Cold War context gave Cuba a very ive ally, the Soviet Union. Several attempts to switch to an industrial economy failed, and Cuba continued to rely on sugar and the world economy for income. After the prices of sugar declined and petroleum rose, the Soviet Union had to help Cuba by buying sugar at somewhat high prices and selling petroleum at very low prices. Because the Soviet Union failed, the future of Cuba remained uncertain as it was one of the three isolated communist states in the world. However, Cuba’s communist revolutionary model served as an example for other Latin American countries seeking economic and social reform.

The Search for Reform and the Military Option After the revolutionary attempts of Latin American countries in the 1950s failed, people continued to try to overcome the disadvantage of Latin American economies created by their dependence on the world economy. Political stability was an option, like the PRI in Mexico, but the church was another option favored by many other countries. In the 1960s and the 1970s, governments created new “bureaucratic authoritarian” regimes. By the 1980s, a new wave of democratic regimes was emerging, based on liberation theology, which is combined Catholic theology and socialist principles to bring improved conditions for the poor.

Out of the Barracks: Soldiers Take Power The success of the Cuban communist movement made many Latin American militaries, now professionalized with technical training and organizational skills, uneasy. The militaries believed that they were best equipped to solve their nations’ problems, even if it meant to sacrifice the democratic process. As a result, in the 1960s, the militaries of Latin American countries took down socialist revolutionary governments with of the United States and imposed bureaucratic authoritarian governments, which emphasized nationalism, improving industrialization and reducing inflation, but increasing inequality within the social structure.

The New Democratic Trends The militaries of the Latin American countries started to return government to the civilians after they realized that their solutions were no more destined than those of civilian governments. In addition, economic and social problems wore heavily on the military leaders. Redemocratization was not easy as socialist movements tried to stop democratic elections and radical leaders tried to establish Marxist governments. Nevertheless, democracies became well established throughout Latin America, although other problems like dissatisfaction with NAFTA existed.

The United States and Latin America: Continuing Presence

Societies in Search of Change

Slow Change in Women’s Roles

The Movement of People

Cultural Reflections of Despair and Hope