Revolutions, Repression, and
Democratic Reform in Latin America
 1970s – Latin America overview
• Political violence
• Democratic governments overturned by the
military
• The idea that the Cuban Communist govt. had
survived U.S. attempts to overthrow it
encouraged other revolutions
• The U.S. increased support for its allies in Latin
America, determined to defeat communism
 Brazil
• 1964 – the army overthrew the President
 Suspended the constitution
 Outlawed political parties
 Exiled all opposition
 Death Squads – detained, tortured and executed
thousands of citizens
 Promoted import substitution industrialization
Chile
• 1970 – Salvador Allende –
new President
 Socialist reforms to redistribute
land from the wealthy to the
peasants
 Nationalized heavy industry
and mining
 Including American owned
copper mines
 Opposed by Richard Nixon
 Allende
was overthrown
by General Augusto
Pinochet (supported by
the U.S.)
• Allende was killed in the
Presidential palace
• Thousands were killed. Many
Allende supporters executed
en mass in soccer stadiums
 Pinochet
stopped the
socialist reforms
 Encouraged foreign investment
1974 - Isabel Martinez
Peron became president
upon the death of Juan
Peron
 Military seized power and
suspended the constitution
 Dirty War

• Conservatives crush socialist
opposition
• Seven year war between the
military and what it called
terrorists
• Over 9,000 Argentines died.
Thousands go “missing”
• 1979 – overthrow of
dictator Anastasio Somoza
by socialists
• Sandinistas (FSLN) took
power
 Received political and
financial support from Cuba
 Command economy –
nationalized property owned
by the elites and U.S.
companies
• President Jimmy Carter (1977-
1980)
 Stopped the flow of U.S. arms to
some regions
 Promised Panama sovereignty
and control of the canal in 1999
 Tried, but failed to get along with
the Sandinistas
• Ronald Reagan
 Wanted to undo the Nicaraguan
Revolution and remove
Sandinistas
 Armed and trained
counterrevolutionaries called
Contras
 Financed by both legal and illegal
(from arms sold to Iran!) funds
 Nicaragua
• U.S. sold arms to Iran (through Israel as
intermediary) in exchange for the release of
American and Israeli hostages in Lebanon. Those
profits then funneled to Contras!
• Contras were unable to defeat the Sandinistas
• Sandinistas called for free elections in 1990
 They lost the election to middle-of-the-road Violeta
Chamorro

The FMLN (Farabundo
Marti National Liberation
Front)
• Inspired by the Sandinistas
• Organized an effective
Guerilla force

The U.S. responded
• Gave millions of dollars to
the Salvadoran Army
• Hard to continue after
Salvadoran Death Squads
killed Catholic Clergy and
thousands of civilians

FMLN negotiated an end
to the war after the U.S.S.R.
fell and the Sandinistas
lost power
 Military
dictatorships of Argentina, Brazil,
and Chile
 Fell apart due to high number of noncombatant
deaths and govt. corruption
 Argentina
 Military rule collapsed after Argentina tried to take
the Falklands from the British and the U.S. supported
the British in the Falkland Islands War 1982
 Chile
 Despite economic growth, Chileans resented the
violence and corruption of the military under
Pinochet
 1989 – Chile elected a civilian President
 Brazil
 Began converting to civilian rule
 1989 – first popular presidential election
 Oil importers
• Brazil and others
 Had to borrow money to pay the high cost of oil
 Oil exporters
• Mexico and Venezuela
 Made money at first, but borrowed money to increase
production
 When the price of oil fell in the 1980s, they could not
repay their debts
 Debt
• By 1988, Latin America was $ 400 Billion in debt
1983 – President Reagan
authorized a military
invasion of Grenada
 1989 – President George
H.W. Bush sent a military
force to Panama to arrest
Manuel Noriega who was
associated with drug
smuggling and attacks
on U.S. personnel

 Neo-liberalism
 Capitalism, free-
market policies
Milton Friedman
University of Chicago
economist