Latin America: Revolution and
Reaction in to the 21st Century
Overall Trends in L.America
19th Century = Independence from Europe
Rise of the Caudillos (dictators) and
increasing involvement by U.S. (economic)
Early 20th Century = Hurt economies by WWI and
Great Depression strengthen caudillos
Calls for revolution and change
Post war 20th Century= Caudillos overthrown but
usually led to communist governments
leads to U.S. involvement to get rid of
communism
Return to dictators and
then finally unstable republics
Map of involvement
Mexico
 PRI dominated politics for most of the 20th
century but support shifted from peasants to all
people and was eventually undone by corruption
and lack of social improvement
 Zapatistas uprising- government responded with
repression and negotiation
 2000 election of Vicente Fox ended PRI
domination
NAFTA
 NAFTA- North
American Free
Trade
Agreementincreases trade
by lowering
barriers (tariffs
Guatemala
 Pop. mostly illiterate, poor health conditions
 1944 Juan Jose Arevalo- president- began reform
but came into conflict with United Fruit
Company
 1951 Jacobo Arbenz- more radical leader who
wanted to nationalize industry and got help from
the USSR
 U.S. responds to Arbenz’s changes with
economic and diplomatic restrictions
 1954 U.S. invades Guatemala and replaces it with
a U.S. – friendly regime
Cuban Revolution
 High U.S. interest in Cuba- By 1950s 75% of Cuban
imports were U.S.
 1934-1944 Fulgencio Batista- authoritarian leader who
had reform programs that were ineffective
 July 1953 Fidel Castro launched an unsuccessful attack
on military barracks
 Fled to Mexico and got help from Che Guevara
 1958 the “26th of July Movement”
 Castro’s changes- centralized socialist economy, 1961 cut
off ties with U.S. and turned toward Soviet Union
 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis
 Results of revolution mixed- social programs extensive
but attempts to strengthen economy not as successful
Soldiers Take Power
 As the L. American military became more professional,
they began to see themselves as above the selfish interests
of politicians
 1960s military began to intervene directly: 1964 Brazilian
military (with U.S. support) overthrew the elected
president; 1966 Argentina; 1973 Chile- overthrew
Salvador Allende
 Once in power had new type of bureaucratic authoritarian
rule (silenced critics. Dirty war in Argentina where many
disappeared)
 Working class hit hardest by gov. economic policies.
Structural problems still existed- land ownership
remained the same
 All nationalistic leaders
Return to Democratic Rule
Mid-1980s military began to return gov. to
civilian politicians partly because cold war
was over and U.S. wouldn’t be so heavily
involved
Huge debt from loans taken in the 1970s
Drug trade
 After WWI- U. S. emerged as dominant power in the hemisphere
 Private investments and loans from the U. S. were chief means of






influence
Banana Republics
Foreign intervention led to growing nationalist reaction
Roosevelt- 1933 – Good Neighbor Policy – deal more fairly with L.
America and stop direct U. S. intervention- forgotten about during
Cold War
Belief that economic dev. would eliminate popularity of radical
forces
1961 Alliance for Progress- wanted to develop the region
economically- but most said it only benefited the elites
Carter treaty to cede Panama control of the Panama Canal
Women in Latin America
 After WWI still unequal and no suffrage until
1950s
 Slowly women began to organize and demand
change
 Before WWI women entered the workforce in
factories but salaries lower than men’s and they
started to join anarchist, socialist, and other labor
organizations
 By mid-1990s position of women close to w.
Europe and N. America- more than any other part
of the world
Migration in Latin America
Cities grow as more and more people move
to find work in cities
Economic hardships also push migration to
the United States