DIVERSITY AMID GLOBALIZATION WORLD
REGIONS.
ENVIRONMENT.
Second Edition
Les Rowntree
SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
Martin Lewis
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Marie Price
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
William Wyckoff
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Pn'llti<'p
IJall
Pearson Educat;on, Inc.
lJpper Sadd'e River. NJ 07458
DEVELOPMENT -"IF
t
146 CHAPTER 4 Latin America
several new Ama.:onian highways, a new cd-pita;
state-sponsoted min:.ng operations" It "\'.:a5 the Br an rrjJj·
tar} who ditected the opening 0: the Amazon
pwv1.de a::
c, tlet for landless peasams and to ex! rac: the iOns many re~
sou s Yet :he generals' plans did not
vcr as intended
Ihrou b , ut the basln, thin fores~ soils
re incapaole of sup­
portmg pc nent agncultur-al coin: ,and in the \\'ors. cases
degraded into ked ;::Iayhke sur: (:5 2evOlcl of veget3t:on
, a~nculrural subsldles. and
farmers, e\'en i: they \VCT( for~
In
commercial aniyities a
few sites Four tul1.CS mote !'
Amazon
the 19905 than in the ] 9605. The
111lion pC(1~
pte livi -' m the BrazHian Amazon m 2000 is' projec
to reach
151 ion by 201tl, th:.:.s, increased human modlflclU
li::m Ama:o:: is inevltahle \F IpHe 4 21 \
Population Growth and Movements
rhe hIgh growtr, rates in Latin Amenca thr",'ughoUi the twcn­
Herh century are attnb'..:ted to nawrai :ncrease as well 3::' 11;-;­
mlgr3tlOn. The 1960s and 1970s were decades of tremendous
gro'l.th resulting :rom hIgh :ertihty raLes and i'!1creasing :ife ex­
pe::.:tancy In the 19605, lor example. a
tatin American
woman had six or seven chllJren. By rhe 19805 the TFR (rotal
f('nilt:)' rale) was half this 111 some (oururies. As Table 4_1
shows, the 2ClO 1 TFR was 2.4 for
2 6 for Colombia" and
1.8 for },-1exico. A number of factors explam thlS: more urban
:amlhes, which 'le::ld to be smaller (han rural ones', inc-eased
parucpauon of women in the \\'orkfon:e: h\ghet edLcation
levels of \vomen: Slate support of faallly plan:;---jng: and better
access to bu:h controL The e:x(epnons 10 thIS [tend are lhe
poor and more :ura1 coumnes, S;;C:_:15 C;ualerr..ala and Bolivia
'iJ. herr- the average \.VOm3n 11,35 four or five chl:d::-rn_ Culturai
factors may also be at wor k, as Amenndia!1 peoples m the re~
gK)n 7£:nu to have rnore chtldren
Even with faml:Y Sl:::I:'5 sl:rinking and neanng replacemrm
rates in Ur.:g:'lav and Ch,-lr, d--,ere;5 bml:.-in potem:al for CO!1"
tinucd growth because of the relative demographIc youth of
:hese countrIes The average percentage of r~e populatio'l
belt.w [he age of 15 1S 32 percent. In Nor::-h America the SlIT1­
lIar cohon 15 21 percent of the populatlOn, and in \:.'cstcrn
it lS just 17 p£Icem This 1'nea::3 rhat a proport:on,;d~
1y larger segDt:r;,t of :.he population has yet 10 enter into its
childbea:-i:1g years
\Vavt:s ,,11' mnmgrants mto Lat:n A:nerica and mig::--ant
5LreamS \\lthl:-: La.rm .>\merica have jnflue~lced pOFc.:lation SlZl'
and patlerns 0: Y~rtlemenr. Begmni::g in the bre nlr-.cleemn
-ccntur:v, ne\-\,: imm,grams hom Europe and Asi3 added to the
region's size .and elhnic comp:exity. Important populattQ!1
shifts \vithm cou;:',tries have also occ-.:rred :;n :-;;:Cent decades.
as 'Wl.tnessec b;! the gf0wlh Mexican border towns and the
denwgrilphic expansio:: of the Boh'tiun p~ams, IE an i;;crcas­
ingly globalized eC":,lnOnl}', even more Latin Americans lIve
:mel work outSide the reglOn. espeCIally m the llmted States.
0:
European Migration After gainUlg thllll1dependencf from
ic.eria. Latm Amencas new leaders sought to develop their ter·
riwrks through mmllgraGOn Firmly belicvi~",g m the dictum
"to govern 1S to populate," :nany co-,mines set up nnr:t:gra­
lion oUlCes m Eurnpe to altracr hardworking peasams to till t~e
soils 2.nJ '\vh:ten" Lhc mestlzo I?eople 0: r:tixed European
and InGian ancestry; populatjon _The Southern Cone coumnes
of Argentma. Chile, Uruguay Paraguay ar',d southern BrazE
'\-vcre the most su(xessf-.:l in attrac:ing European lmmigrants
[rom the 18705 until the dep:-ession of :he 19305 During this
per:od, some 8 mllhon Europeans arr~ved (more t~an can'.e
duri;:g the entIre colonia: period), \Nlrh Italians, POrluguese,
SpanIards, and GerITL3ns
the most numerous. Some of
this immigrauon \\'2.5 state-sponsored, such as the nea::y
1 mUllan laborers (mducing entlrc fam.:Hes) brougr:L to the
coffee estates surroundmg 520 Paulo at the staa of [he tWen·
tieth century. Other r:tigrant::. came seasonally, espt:cially the
hallan peasants who letl Er:rope in the Wlnle for agaculrural
\vork 10 Argentina and were thus nicknamed "the sw;;,Eows "
Still Olhers pa!d ther own passage, intendmg to penEaner.Lly
setrle and prosper in the grov,:lng cornrr:eraal centers of Buenos
Sao Paulo, Montevideo, and San:iago.
Asian Migration
A. Figure 4.21 Settlers in the Amazon Newly arrived set·
tIers In the Brazilian Amazon hove deared a patch of land From
the forest and constructed their new home out of wood and
palm. Thousands af such homesteads ore found throughout the
Amazon.
(Brion Godfrey)
Less well kno\,;-'TI are the AS13n irn:mgrants
who also ar:::ived during (he late mneleenth and rwe:11le.th cen·
turies. ,t\lthough consicerably fewer, over Hme they t'3tabhshed
an nnponant presence in the large .:::ltie~ of B::-azll, Peru, Ar~
ge!1tJna, a:-~d Paraguay Beginning in rhe mld-nineteenrh cen·
tury, :-he Chinese and Japanese who settled in Latin Amenta
were contracted to work on rhe coffee estates m srmdle::-n Brazil
Population and Settlement
ar:d the sugar es[ates and guano mme::, of Peru In [he 199(15
aJapa:r:.ese-Peruvian_ Albe;:to FUJm:or:, \\"a5 preSIde-Ill of Peru
The Japanese :n Bra:;::l are the IT.Qst "tu,::hcd A51311 iillrnigrant
grcup_ Between 1908 and 1978 a quar:eHmllwnJapanese Im­
ffilgrated to Brazil; today the cQu::-,.try t.' ;-;ome to 1,] million
people of Japanese descent. InnaHv: mostjapauC-.---q: were land­
less labO!ffS, yel by [he 1940::, they had accumulated enough
capItal so rhat ~hree~q:::;lfters of the ILigranrs hs.d their O"\\'r:
:3_nd 111 <:he rural areas of SaG Pau~o and Parana state::, As a
grcup, the Japanese have been dosely assoCiated \\lth the ex­
panSIon of s('ybcan a::d orange producnon. TOl:ay Bra::lll€.ads
the w~)fld in expons of orange Juice conccr:tta:e, with most of
t;:e oranges gr<,v,,'T} on Japane~t>Bta:ihan fanus. Increasingly,
SeCOIlG ~ and third- generat:o.:l Japanc:se haw:- ~al<en prof:?~sional
and commt'rcial jobs In BraZll:an citIes. :nany 0£ them have
:narricd outside the:r ethnic group and are losing their fl-;..:;en,
cy In Japanese Even \\~.th mterc.arrlJgc, they continue to
rr:.amtam a srnmg sen:!? of their erhmc Ide::riry, \vl~h more thJn
Iwo~th:rd5 of ]apanesc··Brazihans ::.peakmg both Portuguese
ane s0meJapanese (F:g:..:re 4.22:
The hrest A:::;!an immlgr<ints arc from Sl)Ut;: Korea Unlike
tcr
')11
m·
'rn
al~
m:
0n
thelr predece:-,sors, mCI",t of the Korean imlElgram;.
t"-~
So·~th Korean staLstlCS, 120.~JO(l Korc:ans er.lgrateci :0
Paraguay between 1975 a!"!d 1990. \Vhile many have s~ayed
In Paraguay. -:.here seems to be a pattern of secondary imm:~
gratl0n to Brazil and Argentina_ Recent Korea!"! nnmig:'anls
in Sac: Paulo have create":! more than 2,S()(l small ausmesses
Unofhoal estimatcs of the num!:Jer of Ko:-eans l:vmg m Rra:ll
range ::-om '10,C100 to 120,000 As fl group they are decided­
ly comrnerclal m one:;tallon and urban in resicence, the::­
citles oi c::Olce :1!e As'.mC'l6:: and C:udad de: Este In Paraguav.
Sio Paulo in E:-azil, :md Buenos Anes m Argemma
:r·
m
'0­
lis
1t
.e,
of
Iv
It
o­
le
al
Iy
)5
ts
1­
:d
1­
:il
came \'Vltt:
enough Lap:tal to invest in :-::.maH btAsine~ses and :->enled in
citle5. ::-ather tlun m the cOlm:ryslde. According to orheal
he
(t>;
147
t
Latino Migration and Hemispheric Change ~love.ment
iNithm Latit: America and between Laun America and North
America r:a5 had 2. slgniHcant nnpa:::t on sending and rece:v­
mg comm1ll1lti~s ahke. \Vithir: Latin Amenca, imern;nional
m.lgratlOl1 is ::.h:!peJ by shifting eCOI1Olr.LC and polmeal reali~
nes. 1[:U5, Venezuelas oil wealth d-.:ring the ~960::i and 1970s
attracted between 1 and 2 million CD:ombi3:: u:u1llgran:s
who teaJeJ to work as domc:,tics cr agricuhu:-allaborers /\r­
gemma ha::. bng been J des:inanon for BC;lvian and
t'3raguaya.:: labor{'xs, And, of course, farmer.:: IE the UDlted
States have depended on Mexican laborers for most of the
twentletr: cenmry (refe: to Figure 4 .2C)
Po:mc2.1 tur.nOlI also :::p;uked waves '-Jf .nternauc:::al rm­
grants_ Chilean intellectuals ned to nelghbonng cccmtncs m
the 19~Os when General Pmocht-:t vnested pmver from the
sociahst government lec by Salvador A~ltnde_ Nlcaragua1:s
h~eWl:-::.e red when the so(iah:t SanJanistas La::ne to pO\:ver
in 1979. The- bloody ciVil wars in El Salvadcr and Guatemala.
s(;n~ waves of refugees mto neighbor:ng C01.mlnes, such as
MCXlCC and the Cnited s.tJ~es_ \:\,7ah demo.::ralizat10TI on the
rise:n the region, manY:Jf tod;:.y's 1mmigrams are classified.a5
econOhllC migrar:rs, not pc:mcal asylum seekers.
Ai.
Figure 4.22 Japanese-Brazilians Retired Japanese-Brad·
ians play the board game "Go" in a city plaza. Mosl Brazilions
of Japanese ancestry live in the southern slates of S60 Pauio,
Porano, and Santo Catarina. The majority ore descended f'om
Japanese who immigroled 10 Brazil ir the first half of ihe !"wenh­
e~h century. (Gary Payne/Getty Images, Inc)
t'resenr;y ~v1eXtco IS [he ialgeS[ country of
of legal
Immigrants w the Unired States. fo[owed by the Phllippnes,
Chma, Korea, and \'lell:dm (Flg'..:re 4.23). Twenty-rwo rm>
:lon pecple danned Ivlexica::l a:;cesny IE the 2~)OO
Cen­
sus. of whom approxi:natelv 8 Illlihon were Hnclgrants.
u.s.
A. Figure 4.23 Mexican-U.s, border crossing Mexican <:ioy
workers CrosS the border 1'110 El Paso, Texas, from eiudod
JuOrez. Mexicans have long used these busy borde"- crossings to
enter the United Stotes. Other latino immigrants, especially from
Central America, now join them.
Phofogropher)
(Reb Crandall/Rob Crendell,
148 CHAPTER 4
latin America
ivil war and economIC uricertaintj' forced nearly 1 mn~
to nee then countrY in the 19805 and
early 19905, :\:lany came to the United States, especially:o
Los Angeles and \Vashmgton, D.C In fact. in the \Vashmg~
ton metropohtan area, lmmigrar:ts from El Salvador repre­
sent the largest nanonal group of !"ece:1t immigrams (Figure
42 1). 1n his p.ovel Odyssey to the ~Grl.h, Salvadoran author
:\1ado Bencastro weaves a story of exile aad struggle around
rhe character of CaUxto-an undocumented Immlgrant who
fled the violence of his country and ended up workiug in a
Washingtcn restaurant. In the followmg excerpt. Calixto de­
scribes He m far-off El Salvador to othe!" irntt!lgram kitchen
workers
Clion Salvacorans
Fate plays wtth us. I never ima,glned that one day 1wOi.iid br:
washtr.g dishes in aJoreign land. In my country 1 did everything,'
1began as a day laborer in a village. and after 1 went (0 the CliP­
ita! I worked as a shoemaker and then: as a mason. This i~, when
i wasn't on a brnge, because the desperation of unemployment and
misery pu",hes you to akoholism. But here in chis country I'm lIke
a r.fW man, 1 rarely dnl1k alld 1 '....·ork In a kltcnen, a Job u.\ually
reserved Jor wornen in our country
'.Vhat's the name of the totvTl ),ou cume from)
0)0 de Agua
Is "mg'
No, it's just a tiny Village on a mountain lun oj snakes and
19'<1anaS
.l.
'
Ir's 11c'l thai bad, I bet It ~ a pretty Iiltle wvm
It was. But there were battles there between the guernllas and
the army. The b(mlbs destroyed the place and th(lSf of us who Sur·
vived ]1cd w other anes, Now H'S a ghost town.
i can see you reaUy miss your country
wny wouldn't 171 was born and raised there. and learned
such important things
Like what? \\r'lat can you learn in a pIlla as far frem dVl­
i:zation as that'
Well, to use a machete. And herd oxen and cows. To ride a
horse And plant cmrs, Harvcsl cotton And hunt igu(.mas, Dr:nh
moonsnmt. And chew tobacco Ali Ihe thmgs a man has to [Cllrn
in order to survive in the countty
In the country you work really hard. U's not a life for wimps
That'~ for sure, 1used to get up real t'ady in the merrnl1g, long
'" Figure 4.2. J Salvadorans in the suburbs Day Iobor
ers wait for employment in a Mory1and suburb outside Wash·
Inglon, D.C WOf and economic han:hhip drove many
Salvadorans from their -country in the 1980s ond 1990s.
After los Angeles, the second largest community of Salvado­
rans is in the Washington, D,C., area. (Rob Cf(mdolf/Rob
Crondoll, Photograpner)
before the s:m came up. z,.,ty breahfast was a couple of tortll1as
WUIt beans and chfap coHee
\.I/n)" dtd you gel up -'0 early:­
Because 1 used to walk as much as jtve kilometers ID get fa the
h(l{u:n.da where 1picked cotton
Five kt!oTt1etas just to ge/there?
That was nothing, tn. the countr:.. everyone walks e)'cl')'""herf
On Lhe hacienda I'd work Irom sun.up 'til .'iHndown, JOT a few
colones and a coupie of toni1!as \vith salt C\.'fty day, and with cruel
crew leaders Q$ bosses
The owners oJ dIe ,~aoenda?
No, the crew leaders are poor peasant.s Wle the rest of the
workers. Bl.1t they thmk they're powe~[111 and el'ld up even mean­
er than the owners t.hemselves
SQurce· t,,{atJQ BenC3S:ro, Odysv:y
Press.
~99S.
(0
the North :;OUSlOt lmc Plibhco
pp 62-63
~, III
..
of:
111'1
~.
til
II i
,
MexlCan labor mlgrarion [0 the. t:nned States dares back to
the late 1800s when rdatively unskIlled iabor was re<:n:ued
to work i!: agriculture, minmg, and railroads, ThIS pracllce
was formaUzed In the 19405 through the 19605 with the
Btuaro program, which gran:ed temporary employme-fil re$~
ldencf (Q 5 million MexiCan laborers (rnuch like the "g'Jest
workers" recruited from southern Europe and Tu~key by
\VeSl Germany). Today roughly 60 percent of the Hispamc:
populatiOn (both forelgn-born and nattve-born) In the Unit~
ed Star.es claims :\1(:''Xlcan ancestry Me.xican immigrants are
most concentrated in California and Texas. but increas:ngly
they are found throughout the coumry Although MeXlCans
to have the greatest presen..:e among I....annos in the
l)n!ted States, the numbe; of immigrants from E! Salvador,
Guar.emala, NlcaragU8., Colombia, Ecuador, and BrazIl has
s~eadHy gW\\'I1, The 2000 Census counted 35 million His­
pamcs in [he United States (both !oretgn- a::1d naave~bornj
Most of trus poru~ation has ancestral ties with peoples from
Lann America and the Ca::lbbcan (see Chapter 5 on
Caribbean mlgratio:1;
Population shihs from on€' country to another change both
demographlc ar:d cultura! patterns, The c'Jit'J.ral complexuy
Cl)n(t:1Ue
Patterns of Cultural Coherence and Diversity
I
I
;
of Latm luncrlulls att:1Sutahle:n ~a.n to tmrmgrauon, today's
emlgrantS frem Latin Amenca aye weavlIlg d:Clf culmre mto
the fabric of ~orthAmerican and European sodet:es For ex­
ample, Bra:ti. which has long been an lmwigran~ destmanon.
is experiencing waves of o'.;.t-nngra::l0::1 to the Um:ed 5tares
and Portugal. As I10led above, n:any ~mgrant5 mamlam clo::-.e
conlaCl with [heir home countnes, a
rh~'no:nen~'n
some
scholars have :abeled transnationahsm. A (u;tuT:11 and eco­
nomic ou:come or glo'Dahzltlon, rransnatlona~ism highhghtE
Lhc social and cconomK hnks that foen bet\,d:'en home and
hose cour;tne:: (see' Aut:-:OT Fu::ldtrip: S(,hVIJD Trans:;.atkmal
Mlgration" on ~he enc:osec. CD-RO~...l1_ Technl.)log1cai ad­
[har !113ke CCmmU!1tcatIOn both faster and cheaper, ae;
well as IffiJ:wved bankl11g and courier services, allm,Y lmml
gram:::. [0 maintam contac:s \V1lh [rieif home coun~ne$ m ways
ttal ea:-her generatlons could nal T:-re transnat10r:.a1 mlgran~s
vaTIC25
149
:;omhen :'viexico, Guatemala, Bolli..ia, Ecuador, and Pem, In­
dIan c:.:ltures have showed rema:-ka.ble resilience, as evidenced
by the survival of Amermclan languages. Yet the prev31hng
paltern IS one of forced ass'.miiarion m \>,'lnc:: European [ell~
glcn. languages, and pohtical oq;amzauon were lrr.posed on
the sun,>;\<1ng fragments of nauve sonety Later other cultures,
arriving as both forced and vO';untary mlgranrs, added ~0 the
yegwn's cultural m~x Perhaps the sr::gle most r:nponant fac­
tor in the donunance of E'.:.ropea::1 culture in Lann Arneflca
was the dernograpluc collapse of natIve popuiatron..".i
Demographic Collapse
It IS hard the gra:-p tht': enormIty of cultt:ral change and
w
n:a:maln it dual 0::- hybnd Idenmy, whkl-: also is seen as a c.:I­
tu:-al expression of globalrzatlon. Salvadorans \vorking El
\Vashingwn, D
for exarr.pk. maintam regular contact wnh
thel::- ru::al village:. m El Salvador w::lle a:50 :::lcveloping VHcd
irnmigra!1t sOCial netv;orks in thetr new home (sec "Odyssey
to the !"'\orth· Salvadorans in \\.'ashingwn, DC")
Patterns of Cultural Coherence
and Diversity: Repopulating a
Continent
The I":)frian colomal expe:er:ce Im?osed a polmcal and cul
rural cohercnu~ on Latin America :hat makes It dl.stinguish­
able today as a world region. Yet this was not a si:npie­
tT,msphmnng of Iberia across t::e At~antK Often a syncretic
process unfolded in 'VI/hid: Europc2.n aY"'.d Indian lraclt10r:s
blended as mdigenous groups were subsumed Into enlh:r [he
Spanish or ~he Portuguese empires. In some areas 5u(h as
w
human ~os> d'Je to ttis cataclysmic encounter belwee:-: two
·thrOlJg~.oUl the reglOn archaeologlCal sites are
pCJlgnam remmders of ~he ..::ompteAi~y of precontac[ chillza­
[ion~, D0;:o;:'n5 of stone temples found t hf(l".lghou~ Mexico and
Central Amerlca, \d:e:-e thl.'. Mayan and Aztec. dvili2atlons
nuurIshed. a::es! to the ilhilny cf these sodeues TO thrive in
the area's tropical k,rests and up~anci plateaus. In the Ar:de.s.
stor.e terraces bm£t by the Incas are sull bemg used by Ancean
fanners, earthen phufonns for village sues a::d raIsed fields fflr
agnculture are sun bei~:g discovered and oapped. Cere:1l.0­
mal centers such as CUZ-CQ-<-the (ore of the great Incan e!11~
pire that was nearly levele.d by lhe Spanish-~a::;,d the lncan
Sl~e of Y1achu Pkchu--unkn0wr: to n:ost of the wo:ld uatIl
American archaeolopst Hiram Bmgham mvesligated the si~e
1:: thl? early 1900s-a1e nidc!1ce l)f the complexIty of pre­
contdct CiVl~izaflor:s (flgufe 4.24\ The Spamsh, too, were
impressed by the sophis:ication and wealth they saw around
them, espeCially m t"he incomparable Tenoc:hntbn, where
!'-·1exlco City sits today Tr!"'.ochlalan was the polttical and cer­
eoon:a1 ce::'.ter of the Aztecs, supporting a complex metw­
pO:l:an area with some 300,000 resldents. The largeSt city i::
Spam a: the nme W<iS cons!derably smaller
\.\"orlcis.
<III Figure 4.24 Machu Picchu
This complex, anCient city near
Cusco was not known to the out·
"de world until the early 1900,.
Located above the humid Urubom·
ba River volley, Mochu PicchI.! is
one of Peru's mojor tourist destino­
lion!). fRob emndoff/Rob Crondall,
Phologfopnerj
aTIS
the
ior,
has
lis­
Tt).
OEl
0::::
O1h
{lty
II,
,
\ Il pthm and arou::1d the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve H;
V V northeastern Honduras 3re the c)mmU::1illeS of Mlskno,
Ped", Garifuna, and lcamo5 (the H~)Eduran ter:n for mesti­
w), ThlS IS :nt largest area of road-free ram fOTes~ In Cer:ua\
Amenca, For ceinuric:; ind:genoL<s people have mhablled thlS
ar-ea, maintamtr.g ll~ b,olopcal divers-Ity whtle extracttr.g re­
sou-:-ces through the tradl:iorwl ewnomic aClivJties of hi.!nt­
mg, garhenng, 5Jash-ar:d~burn agriculture, and flshn:g
Through parnClpatory mapping !eCnnlq'Jes using glob­
al posmonmg systems 2nd local knowledge 0: resource ::ones,
mdlgenous people art outlinmg thea communal land-use
z.cnes (the resource areas ne.eded fo! subslstence'1 _\v\th tech­
meal aSSlstBnCe by gwgrapher l)eter I-le:;hhy, the r.ative groeps
mapped the "resource-sheds" they ::ely on (Flgure 43,]). By
rnappmg communalland·use z,ones, they co'Jld express their
cla:m:. to :h:s ar~a :Il a pO',,\'erhll but Ilcr,confrontanor,al way
Pmcl1lial problem areas between gro'up" are readily apparent
Fo: exampie, the severaj ethnic groups re~y on the Tinto-Ibans
at the park's northern border Mort important, mapping in.
dtgenous lar,d l:se acknow1edges the Amennd:an prese::1ce In
and around ,-he park
The bigges: chalienge tc maI'ntaming the biosphere's bi~
ologicaJ and (Elt'J.rai diversIty is deaH~lg WH~ some 6,000
ladiEo seders on the southwestern perimcte: viho are dear­
mg land to create permanem agncultural colonies, O::ie 5:rat~
egy 15 to legally secure the territonal clalms of lTjdigenous
people wlthm the biosphere aed also recognize the :ights of
exisltr.g ladi::1o settlements outside of "he blcspnere zone
while dl.scouraging fUrlb:r expansio::1 mto the park itself A
new participatory mapp:ng lt1lt1at~ve ior.ns one co:npOl",ent of
a I-londunm-Ger:nar; proJect to protect and manage. the Rio
P}atano b10sphcre Re:;'en:c, Through thls p:;oces5, indigenous
and ladn:o commumnes h2\'e come wgethe to dehne their
oWll1a!1d-use zOr:img system and management guiddir.es
.. Figure 4.3.1 Communal land-use zones and the Rio
Platano Biosphere Reserve Various ethnic communities in­
cluding the Garlfuno, Miskito, Pech, ond Iodine;; live within Ihe
Rio Platona Biosphere Reserve, The firsl three groups are using
mopping to maintain access to parkland:;. rar fishing, hunting,
or.d form;ng. (Modified from "'Tierra Indigenas de 10 Mosquifia
Hondureiio-1992: Zonas de Subsisrencia" by Masfa Mopawi, Peter
Herlihy, and Andrew Leake)
o!
o
10m!
5
!
5
10 km
Ethnic groups:
r771
I
150
Toc'llmaclto
C1
hiJ§3
tmLO·lblll'ls
c:J
CJ
LasMarias
Bros lasuna
L .1
Ahuas IlIlI!IIIII'
~~e::oReserve •
Garlluoa
•
Ladio1Q
•
Peen
Rio P!aI3'10
aw
Ga:Jbbe8r:'
"-.
, Sea
Patterns of Cultural Coherence and Diversity
ULS
;n­
in
JS
Ir
The most teUbg fIgure:;:; of the ~mpact of European ex­
pansion are den:og::-dphtc. It lS widely helieved tha~ r~"\e pre­
contact Amrncas had 54 mllhc'll inhabuams: hy ,:on:panson
western Europe ell 1500 had approximatd) 42 ;mEiol:_ Of
the 54 rm1\lOD, abou: 47 milliOn WeTe in what b nov,' Latm
America, ane the re::.~ were l:1 l\;or~h Amcr:ca a:1d the
Canbbean There '\\-erc [WO rna.jor populalion centers, one 1n
Central MexICo wuh 14 mll!lOn peop!t'; dl.d [hc. orher i1'. the
(ennal Andes (hig):~tand Pc;-J aEd DO!l\'-la) v.irh nearly 1::
mllhon, By 1650. ahe! a cemur)" and a half oI co!ol11zdtior:.
the indlgenous POpddtlOn W(1.5 olle·ren:h as prrcor.ta(l5L:c
The hmnan tragedy ;.Jf this population loss is diffIcult to cnm~
prehend, The Ie;cntless elll1~tna[h.m of 9C1 pncem of the in~
digenous p(lpulati(-;n <';\-"(1,5 largely caused by epjdemics of
infbenza and s~cll1?()X, but warfare, forccd JaboL and ;,~ar·
vatlO;:; due w a collapse or £000 p:-odu(tlOn systems also (:0:1·
If!b-(].reci to the dear!l rare_
The tl"agedy ({ conql:rst did no: end ~n 165(1. the p0PlJ~
lacon lOW POlill for ,\mcrindians, hut contmncd. rh:-o·ugt.Out
the c,oloma! penod ;'lIlG to a :nuch lessn eXLcnt conllnues
today Af~e tht indigencus pOpu~3tior: began lb slow recov­
ery in t:le CentraL Andes and Ccr.nal MCX1CO, there were suli
tcbal ;:;ands m sou~hern Chtle ,the Mapuche) and Patagonia
(Araucama: tho:' expenenced the ravages of disease three cer;.~
tmies aiter Columbus landrd_ Even now the isola:lOTI of s,)me
Amazonian tribes has made tr.em vulnerable to disease COll­
fllCts w~d-: 0":._:tS1Uers \\"h~) jnvade thcIr ~ernrone5 If\ SC2h:h ,Jf
land or gold still OCCl:r. In all a~l too farraltlr swry. a COlnmon
cold can pr;)ve deadly ro forest ds,,'rliers \'\'1:0 la.ck the need­
1
ed imrr:ur;Jties.
The Columbian Exchange
Hlstonan Allred Crosby hkcns
the con~act per:oci between [he Old \Vorld (EUiOpC, Afr:c;:c
and Asia) and the Nc\y \Vorld (the AmciKaS 1 as an imrr:ense
bwlogical swap. whKh he term:;,; the Columbian exchange,
Accordmg to C[("'>sby Europeans bene fired g;eallv froID tIns
exchange, and Amcn:1dtan peoples suffered ~he mosr from It
The human ecoIogr of both sldes of the Atlantic. however.
was for.z:ver changed thiough the imroch.:ct:on cf new dlS­
cases, peoples. pi3nts, and Jnirr.ab, Take, fOT example. [he
iy:troci:'Ktion of Old \\'ol"ld crop:;: The Spanlsh, namral~y.
hiOUgh!: tr:.elr s:aplts of w::eat. olives, and grapes to ptant :n
the Araericas. \Vheat dId surprisingly '\Tell m the h:ghla!1d
troptCS and became a \vlddy consur::ted gram over rime
Gr:il.pes ar~d ohve trees did not fare FlS \..\'e 11 , but eventually
grapes were produced commercia!ly in the temperate zones
of Somh Arnenca. The Spanish grew to appreciate Il',e do­
mesticauon skills of Indian dgnculluralists \.\::-:0 had devel~
(!~ed valuable staich cops such as corn, poratoes, and bl:ter
r::la:1WC as well as condIments such as heH peppers toma­
toes. p:neapple, (acao, and avocado~_ Corn never became a
popular food fo:- EUfnpea-:1S, bur many Afncan peoples adopt~
ed it as a vital staple food. After imtial teluctance, Europeans
and Rtl'lSlanS w--:dtly cor.s-(].med the p~)tato as a basic fooe
DornestlCa:ed t:1 tht hlghla:lt!.s of Peru and BoliVia, the hum­
b~e pOtatO has an ImplessLVe ability to produce a tre:11endous
voh:rr.e of food in a verv sma:l area. even whe~. chmallC cor>
151
dJl~cns
a,e not \I_kat ThiS fOOL crop 1<; credJtec v.1th drivmg
Europe'<; fJP~d populauo:1 increase m the eigr:trcnth ~enIUry
when peasan:. farmers from l:-e.land to Russia became ]TI­
crc35E:gly dependent on 1r as 8 ba51~ fooo nus pOfdto de~
prnornce also nts.de tf.em ;,ulnerable [0 potato b;lghl, a funga~
disease :hal emerged Hi the n:neteer.T_h century and came close
to unT;-;yclr:-:g Insh soc:ety
Trop1(81 crops transferred from Asia ;ind Afnca reconfig­
'Jrrd tl:e etonom::: pOtfot:al of the regIOn, Sugarcane. an
;\Slan nansfrr, became Lhe dominant cash crop of (he
Caribbra:r, arid the Atlantic tTopicallowlands of South Amer··
:.\~a. \\lah sugar product:on came rhe importation of ndlions
of Afn_can slaves_ Coffee, " :ater Iransier frc:n East AfL-.:a,
2merged Jt; one of the ieatling export :::rops t::roughoUl Ccn­
Lral America, Colo~bla. \'cnezuela, :md Br~E!l :n lh:: nme~
te<nth cen:ury [ntTL\d~ced African pasw::-c grasses cl.h,Jn-e,ed
the forage ava:1ahie to tycstock
The n:ovcment of Old \\-'odd animals across the Atlantlc
had a profllt:nd Impact on c:-.e: Am<;'.nca::: lDltia:ly these J!U­
mals has~ened indIan decli;:c by introduclng animal-borne
dl.seasc::. And by prodllc~ng feral offspring that COf'.SUDlc:d
t'Vtlylhing in ~hcir paths, For the ;:lOSt pan. nanve agricul­
turalists chd 1.Ol hay,;; to contend \\.1th grazmg amlllills; and
then vaS1 gardens of corn, Deans, and squash proved to be
dUral-Live fodder for the rapidly Ul'JllipIYl:lg 'sv.-,ne, cows. ar;d
horses. The :'H111t: of the.'ie 3::lirnais was twntually appreGat­
ed by naL~ve SUf\-'1VO:-s Draft anlr.1ais Wert aGoplC'd, as \i.'as the
plow, WhlCh facilitateci the preparation of SOl: for planur;g
\\"001 hecame a \'c:-y importaru fIber :or ind~ge:;ous commu­
r.mcs- m the uplands, A.::;d slov,rly, p\.)rk, chlCken, and eggs
added protem and dlversi:y to tr"e staple dIets of corl., t:ota­
Wf,S, and cassava. Inm~cany the hc:'se, whlCh \\'35 a feared
and fcr:ITlldabJe weapon of the L1ropea:1s, became a LOol of It"'>
SlganCC 111 the hands of skilkd nders who inhabi~ed the plams
of the (:-taco ane Patagoma. Much lIke naaye prop!cs of
:':onh /\merica, these tnbai groups challenged European con­
quest by usmg then horseman::.hip in co:-nbat or for ihght
\\"ith the tnajt)r exceprion of dlsease, many r:-ansfers of plants
dnd a:muals '.l.hrc.ately bendHed ;:;oth \vodds. Sr.ll. it is ckar
~har the ecological ano matenJl basls io~ Jiie in Latin Amen~
C3 wa~ completely rev;orked through thIS exchange process­
imna~ed by Columbus
JI.. Indian Survival
Presently, ~v!exieo, Guau::maia, Ecuador
Peru, and BoliVia have the largest :nclgeno,ls pOpub.tlor,s
N()~ sl.:rp;lsingly these an:'''d5 had d:e densest native popda­
nons 3( Contact. ~ncilgenous, surv;val a150 occns 1I1 isola:cd
ser.mgs where the workings of :;arional and global econonm'$
are slow to penetrate The Sterra de 5ama ~aITa m Cdomh13,
home of ~he Kogi, or the Gran Sabana lTI Venezuela, where the
Pemon livc. are places where re:latlveiy smal! groUp5 have­
rna,"aged to I1l3mtam a distinct india;.: way of hfe desp:re pres­
SUlT~S w assim;latc
In I:lany cases bdlan sUfV1val comes down [0 one key re­
source-land ~ndlgenou5 peoples who arc a~le to rr:ainram
a lemtonal home, formally through laT~d title or l::forma:ly
th~ough :ong-lerm 0ccupancy, are more likely to prese:v;: d
,
152 CHAPTER 4 latin America
~.
j..
distInct etb-:lc identity. Because Lif r~l:s close aSSOCl3J.lOn be·
etT',e:rgcnce of ;1 new Iflt'>tt.;:O :-acr 35 the legacy e,f t: uro lpe'IlI'
tween ldenmy and :eTntory, nallve peo?ies aie tr.crcasmgly m·
,:onques! lhroughoL1l LHin Arne-nea, mC:2 than ot~le:r
sL~ung on a recognized space within t~lel: CGUL[tlE'S These
ghms of (he world. mlscegenat10n l.or raciai rmxing) IS
effo:ns to define- indlgenous ::LrrHOry art seldom \\'ckorced
nNIl1. WhlCh m3kt:5 the process of mappmg raoal or
by the st:He.
g::-Oli.pS espenaJly chUicalt.
Today :he state of Panama !'ccogm:t-':' four [QrrJar;\15 thal en·
compass six r:ative gro-<lps t!-"te most succes:cful is (crnarca San ~languages Roughly tWO-lhl:-CS (1f Latin Amencans
'
Blas on the. Caribbean coast, where 40.000 KU;13 In£:. A co­
SpanIsh speakers, and one-thud sprak F'on0t:uese. 1hese
mared IS a l(lcsely defined tern tory shw}ar Lo a ;;::-OVU:Ct' Of (1
c:ok:m2.llanguagcs V·:CTt' ~o prevalent hy the mnereenth
ho:nela:1d. \Yha[ d15tmgUlshes [he comarca from aE lndlan
ttl:}" that ~ h._~y were the unqueslloncG. languages of govern~
reservaUO!1 is tint ~he naeve people have cefmed the terriwry
rr:ent and mstrucrlOn for the newly lcdependent
and .assert ?olitlcal drH2 H'S,JUTCt comro; wj.dun its boulldanes
A!T,c-:-::can repwblics. In fact, unul recemly many coumnesac_
Fwm An:azon:a to the l-I1gblands of Chlap2.S, many tl8.llve
tlvely dlS(Ooraged, ana ever. ::-epres5ed. Inci:m tongues. It
group'=' are dem:,mdmg formal poiilic21 and ~ermDnai rec.ogm­
t:)ok a c('nsutuconai a!nendmc.m m Boll'na:11 the 19905 to b
non as a means to red:-tss cenru:ies of inrJ5l1ce. \Vhelher rhc~t:'
gah:f na:-:vt>-languJgc ~llStruct:.:):;. in pn:.nary schools and to
efforts \\i11 actually rcsh~pe politicai ;md cultural space for La~ln
rec0g~"aZe the cO"i.-'nrry~ mu!tlethElc heritdge (more t"!-lan half
Amencas A:r:en;,di;m5 15 still uncert2in
'Mappmg for In·
the popu~a';.wn islnd:an, and QUt:rhu3. Aym3ra, and GuaranI
d~ge:lous SurnvaL" on page ISO} Yet there 3re hopeful signs
afe wld<~v spokeYl-] (hgu::-e 4.251
of lllueased :poliHraI parucIpatlon by A!lle:-mchan PC(ipleS In
Because_ Sranish and Forcug1J.ese d':::lfnma~e, there: 15 a ten­
2001 Peruvians elt~C(ed Prcside.:ll AJe.;andro Toledo, an
dency lo neglect the m!iuenc(' of mdige:;}o:Js lang'..:ages tn the
Anenndnn whe. rose from acute pove.rry' to obtai::! a dc,;:wrate
reglOn_ Mappmg ~he ll:,e of "indlger:o'Js langu2ges_ however.
in econoni.~CS from Stanford Umver5~ly: He 15 [he hrst ptls(ln of
reveals imp(ltlanl PO(~C.:s of balan !"f;".51SlanCE: and SI..,T\iivaL
AmerindIan aneesny tv hold the presIdential OfflCC Hi. Peru,
In [he Central Andes of PerJ, I3oilvia, and southern EC'Jador,
more than 10 nlllbon people stJl speak Q:..leehua and A,v­
maTa, alo::g \'"11 h Spanish. In Paraguay and lowland Bohvia
Patterns of Ethnicity and Culture
lhe:e are 4 nll~hon Guarar.l speakers, and li1 southern Mexi~
The hKiian demogra~hlc collapse enabled Spain and Port:'l­
CD
and Gt:atemala a~ lea>t 6 tel 8 rni:l;on s;,eai<: Mayan lan­
gal fO :-elash:on Lann America mto Ii Ecxopean like:1b~_ -Yel
guages.
STlJAIi groups of ~latlve-Janguage spc;;lk:ers are found
ms~ead 0: a neo-Et:rope rising in thl;': tropjc~, a complex dh·
scattered
througho:..;t :he 3pa:sely settled ~ntc·i()r of South
tl:...:: bler,d evolved_ Begmmng \-'lith rhe f::-Sl ye21's of cOnlaci.
3:1Q
LilC mere :solatcd foresTs of Central AmeTlc2, :-;ut
Amenca
unio:1: between European sailor'S and Indian women began
many
01
these
languages :tave fc\-ver !han 10,000 speilkers
the process of fanal mixl:,g rhat ave:: lime became a dd:ning
feature of the regIon. The coults of Spain aEd POI-rugal offl­
cizlly dIScouraged racial :TrLxing. bu~ not much codd he done
abC'J: it. Spain, \vhlCh had a far larger naLive pi.."lpulauon '.,vnn
I! I!
wl"Lich to deal tha::-1 did the Portuguese in Brazil. became ub~
s.essed wtlh the ma~ter of race anc mamta:r.mg racIal punty
amo~g ~[s colonists. A:,. ebborate cla5>sificauon systf:m was
constructed (Q d:snngu:sr: emerguig raoJ.t l'astes, Thus, i:,
\lex~co in the clghteer:th century a Spaniarc. and an :r.dl<i.n
uriion resulted m a ntestlZo chlld. A ch:ld of a mestizo and a
Spanish woman \.\-'iI'i a Wit!2V However, the children frorr. 3
casrizo woman a.nd a Spa::-t:sh ma:) we're (:o;.sidered Spanish
~n \-1eXlCo but a quarter p.l.esuzo 1:1 Peru_ Likn'.ist, mulattoes
wele the plOgeny of European ant! Afncan umo:r;s, and zarr,­
bos "\-vere the offspr;.ng of Afncall~ aJ":C Ind:.1ns
Airer ge.nerat:ous. of iraermarriage. such a claSSlfkation
~y::.tem c(l;lapx.G c;nder the wught of its complextty, and four
broad categones resulted- blar.w :t.uropea:: anct:stry), mesti­
zo (nuxed ancestry). il'ldio (lnchan aucestry). and negro (African
ancestry) The blanco~ (or Europeans) continue to be well
represenLed among the elites, yet the. vast majonry of people
are of m:xed raCIal ancest!"y in Ver.eZ'Llela, for example, the
parase "cafe con leche" (coffee With ndk) is used to describe
[he racial t!1Okeup of the maJonty of t:-;'e popu13lJ.on who share
Europea;L Afrkan, a::-:ci Indian charactensucs. Dia de la RdZo,
the teglO:1'~ observar:ce of Colun:bu5 Day, !ycognizes ~hc
J.. Blended Religions
r
Like Jang"c.:agf, the Ro~an Catholic
hith appears (c have !Jeen UYlposcd upon the regIon without
challenge Most COLnC'ies report 90 PC!cc:t O~ mote of their
popLilation as Cathohc Eve;y major city has dozens of
churches, and ever: Ln~ smallest hamle: mamta~ns a graceful
church on as ce::-llralsquJ.re (f~gure 4 26). In SOGle countries,
such as E! Salvador arcd l'r.;gt.:ay, a st:3bJe portion of [he pop­
·c.Lation attend Proles:an~ eVJ.nge~ical churches. but [he
CuholI( core ,')f t.LIs reglOn b sdllntacL
Exacdy what nativc peoples absorbed of [he Christan faith
is unclear. Throughout Latin America syncretic religions,
blends of dtffe:e::'l oehef systems. enabled aaimist practIces to
be fotded mto Chnsuan worshtp. These bkGds lOok hold and
endured, 111 pan because Chr~st;an samts were easy sur~o~
gates for prr-Chm:nan gods and because the Catholic Cht:rch
tolerateG ;oca1 vanatior:s in 'worshIp as long as the process of
conversion was unGer '.vay The Mayan practIce cf paying trib­
llte to ~pints of the LuderworJd seems to be replicated today
in MexICO and Guaremala vla the p:actice of buildmg srr:aU
cave Slln:-:es to ~avorite Catholic samL" a;:d leaving offerings
of fresh fkwvers and fruits. One oj the most ceh::brated reli­
giODS ifC1ns in Mextco lS the Virgm of Gua2eioupc, a dark~
skmned VIrgin seen by an lni:il;:m sliephe,d boy who became
the pa!WE saml Cif Me:xico
Uf0ptar:.
It her re~
~\ ;'5 :he
70 W
SOOW
,r cthn:c
Gulf of
-) MGx[co ci
:ans a:-e
'I"
I roplC 01 Cancer
';
­
o·
Tl:ese
lth cen­
20"N
,
gcve;n~
Sea
S~les. It
0:' to :e~
; and lo
13:n
"
'"",,
Caribbean
laLln
trit'~ ae­
~t
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
EL SAl'{AO<;R
10'N
half
PACIFIC OCEAN ~ua:-ani
s 3. tfn­
o·
: - 1!1 the )WeVer equator
c·
i
iI
lrv;val 'u2dor, nJ Ay­
ro;;;;inantlOffiCjal'
Boll\(~a
10 :c.
~1.:xi-
lan­
found SOLi~h
1 L~ Spamsh
!
! c=:l
I
'
I
~:I
i CJ::I
Aymara i_
Emb... HLo'Jl CL]
[ lntir Keful ltntS, I
fan.h ions, ~es
unc~
mr(:h
:55 of
:nb· oday I
MapUChe
_
Misklto
:-1n
Midec
_
Nawan!Spamsh
1_
!_
I
'0 s I
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
P""ong
Zapotec
i
1 _ Wahiro !fJIJ Yanomarna
c=J
to 13"d
O..cchua Kuna
~ Mayan
Of tt,!::
sl
I
Guarani i-
t
S RAZ I L
I
1_
'pop'
I
I
j_ Garifuna
:_
thvlic :n5
Portuguese
: Indigenous Languages
til
:a. but kers. LangUage~
1
Scattered indigenous
language communioos
"Muillple OfficI1l1 Languages·
t1Ol1\t1a: Spanish, Q\.Ie<:;hua,
Aymara, Guararu
Peru: Spanish, O\.Iechua
r,--)
iI
f
?J r/·)
I
,
500
1,000 mi
I
I
o
500
<O'S
I
!
\,
1,000 km
1
J
go'W
SD "V'/
30'W
j'
,rea.l
'ir:gs feh­
:ark~
alTJ;;
L Figure 4.25 language map of latin America The dominant langoages of latin America are Spanish and Par·
tuguese. Nevertheless, fhere Ofe Significant orees in which indigenous languages persist cnd, in sorne coses, are rec·
ognized os official longuoges. Smaller language groups exiSI if' Central America, the Amazon Basin. end southern
Chile (Adopted from the A!:os af Ihe World's Languages, 1994, New York: Routledge)
153
154 CHAPTER 4
latin America
f.
!~, ,
I' ,t
i.
I
I
A Figure 4.26 The Catholic Church Churches, such 05 the
Dolores Church in Tegucigalpa, ore important religious and so­
centers. The vas! mojority of people in lotin America define
fhemselves as Cothol'ic, Many churches built in the coloma! ero
ore valued as architectural treasures and are beautifully pre­
Cial
served.
(Rob Crondoll/Rob Crandali, Phorogropher)
Syncret~c relig~ous
practIces alsc evolved and endured
Machismo and Marianismo Cu.lcc.:ral [rails often
--'c·""~u
to men (machismo) and W0!l1er. (marianismo) m .
Amenca ,ei1e.c!, the influence of Tbena and the Cal hohc faith. .
Ttl' term mac.h(l \:whicr: n:ean5 "male"):5 \\ldely used by En­
glish spu.kers tc characten.::e. rr:er: who have great faith in
then abdity to attrac~ women, bur rr:ach~smo In the Latin'
An;crican context I~ also about honor. n5k~taking, and self_
confidence. Thus. someone who IS macho ';,1;ou~d not anow
hls J.ulhonty to ~e queslioned. m the horne or m pL:blic. The
lemale cUltural cO'..ll1terpart. marial1ismo, re~le.ct.s the ideal
\Voman and refers to Mafia (Mary!, the. mother of Jesus.
\Vorne.n WllO foEo\,,: manan~smo StrlYC ~() be palil':1C loving,
gemle) and \\t1!hr:g to suffer in silence. They are keepers of ~he
home, nurt'Jlers of chIldren, anti dcferennal to lhclr h'Js~
bands, \Vomen are also ackt:ov.'ledged for the~r higher moral
authOrIty and, accordir.gly, treated wlth digmty and respect.
The tradition<11 standards for male and female behavl.Or :hat
rcsuh from these Stereotype:: aTe often (ha11cnged. Many
\w)men, for c:xample. ha\/e professwnaI and politIcal pOS1~
[1(1n5 outSide the horne, In re.cent de::ades Latm American
women ha.ve entered the workforce, and now c(!mpTlse more
tl1-111
0!le~thlrd
of ali workers
among Afncan slaves. By far the greates~ co~cem;:atlOn 0:"
i
,
slaves was m the Caribbean, where slaH's were used to re­
place the inchgenol,s populatlOn, whIch \'\.'35 Wiped oul by
d,sease (see Chaprer 5). \Vlthin Lalin AmenC3 the Por:uguese
colony of Bra:::ll received the most Africans~at least "t million_
II: Brazil, where the vOlume and
dUra!lCTI of the slave
lrade we.re the greatest, ~he :r~HlsfeT of Afn(an~based rehglOus
and med:ca! systems:5 mosl eVidem \\.'c'St ;\frjcan-based re~
hglOUS systerr.s such as Batuque, Umbanda, Candomole. a::d
Shar:..go are. ofter: mixed with or anollary lO CatholiClsre anc
Widely r:ractlced in Brazil. So accurate \vee some of these re­
ligIOUS transfers t.hat lt 1S comrr:on [0 have i\igerian prLestS
Journey to Brazil to learn forgotten tradltlOns, In many pans
of sou:he:m Brazil, l;mbanda 15 as popular with people of Ell­
ropean ancestry as with Afro~ BraZlHar:s, Typically a person
becomes famIliar wilh L' mbanda after falling victim to a ma­
gicians speli by hav:ng some object of black magic Iy~~!iec
outside tis or her home in order to regain control of his or
her ~lfe, the VLCtlm needs the help of a pnest or pneSless.
TIle syncretiC" blend of CathollCism WIth Afncan ~raditlons
is rr:ost obvio'Js in the c.elebrau0n o~· camlva~ Braztl'5. most
popular fest:val and one of the major components of Braz!han
nallonalldemity. The three da.ys of carmval knov.rn as the Reign
01 },,1omo comhnes Chnstlan Lenten behefs witl: pagan m~
fluences and Afncan n:uska~ tradUlOTIS epitom:zed by the
!hythmlc samba bands. Ahhm.gh the street festival \VJS banned
for pan of the nineteenth cemury, Afro~Erazihans in Rio de
Janelro resurrected It. in the 1880s with nighlly parades, mUSK.
and danciI~g. \\':thin fifty years the street festival had gIven
nse to formalized saml)a ~chools and hel;::ed break dO\\Tl raCla~
barriers. By the 19605, carmval became an lmportanr symbol
for Brazll's muitiracial ::unonal identity Today (he feslivat-­
whkh is most. associated Wllh R:o-drav,'s thousands of par­
tlcipan:s from all over worl,!, although mcreased i;::cldences of
\'101em cnme and robbery have tar:ushed lls lmage.
ii I@ GibBS!
Reach
of Lanno e~ltdfe .bt
the vmrld. \Vhether H 1S "O.""""
audiences. "\vhlle Latl"oJru~,d"rs
Marlin are ICons of
;u L:[e , and even
Telenovelas
un!te:;d;'~:;~~~!ftIr,i~ ~'l:\lPr~~~~~lio~n~c~e~s:ta~n~."
dard iare
t:lany tel,"(welas take hold
and a,tb""t'an enare naEoa. D'Jring
popular
epJ:sode's.J~e s:reet.s are noticeably calm as
of people
".h,rh up on the ilVCS of their favor.re
. Bz-a.d,
Ve,ne;:1.Jj,r", and MexICO each prod~ce SCQj'es ot'Lelmov,'i""
Mexl(:an (In.es are internaaonal mt'ga·hl'!s.\.
lJ.·ev;"•. a Mexican p1·oduClio:1 agen:..r has ag~"$$I"eJy
m":et<,d llS mventory of soap operdS to at: eager
he i\iexican telenovelas are aVidly watched m count""
Regional Organizations At the ;::,amt IJmc democratically dected leaders StTuggle to ad­
dre::.-s thi:'_ pressing needs of lhe~!' ;::-{)uu~rirs, po~ltkal develop­
ments 31 the: supranational and subnational le.veh pase new
challC'Jlges to the11 auchcmy The mo:;t d15CU55Cd suprana~
liona' organizations tgovermng bodtes that melude several
states) are (he trade blocks. Subnational organizations
(groups that :-epresem areas or people wnhm the
often
form akng ethTI1c or IdeologICal hoes and can provoke seilOUS
mternal drvisions. Indlge~~ou5 groups seekng lrrrilOnal recog
mt:on (such as the Kuna) dnd insurger:t gwups espousing
MarXIst ideology (such a" the FARe!TI Cobmb13) have chal­
It,nged the authomy of toe :.[ates hnaJy, the fina-:-:ciai. and po·
lwcai force of dmg cartel:" espec:ally for smaller counlr..es,
:ranscends state bour,.danes and undermi-:1C5 iudICia! systems
Trade Slocks Beglfsnng in the 19605, ~'egwnal trade <11­
hances were attempted in an eHort to foster internal ma~keis
and reduce trade barriers. The Lat.m American free Trade_ As­
50Clation (L:\fTA). !he. C'en~rd.l Amencan Comnx)ll Minkel
\.(:ACM), J;-,;d the Andean Group have existed fer decades,
bUl thfir zhliry lC' influence eco!lOmic trade dnd growth IS
..
~
~~::S~;~~'lo(::8 oundary con:'",.,"'Ict
1
SJ
N
~c()n()miC Trade Blocks~
~
between Behze
and
Guatemala
,
=~~~~dary
\MexItt:9'
Tdte
l1::g
II1!:IiI
Andean GrQup
c==J
c:J
U.z.t.l
Mercosur
0C.g
,!>,l, ::v
C';: ,:3::
NAFTA
Mercosut Associates
ATLANTIC
~ "
Of the five economic trade
blocks depIcted, Mercosur and
NAFTA are lhe most dynamic. In
Boundary dispute
be:ween Venezue,,,,
and Guyana (Essequibo)
l011
ons
ups
the
ca
~ CACM
:
flf:::t
LAFTA
-<l Figure 4.30 Border disputes
and trade blocks in latin Ameri­
OCEAN
nts,
fac~, several members of the An·
dean Group have expressed inter­
est in joining Mercosur, while
members of the Central American
Comma"! Market would like to be
included in NAFTA. Most of tohn
America's dispvted boundaries are
no! being aClively ch_ollenged, Yet
these long-standing but dormanl
border dispvtes oHen contribute to
teme relations between neighbors.
(Dcrla from Child, 1985. GeopolJJics
ond Conflict in South America. New
York: Proeger Press: and Allcock,
1992" Border and Terri'orial Disputes,
3rd ed, Harlow, Essex. UK,'
Territofial and resource
COf1llicl among Chile,
loflgmor;
Group}
Peru. and So!h/la
co,"'~t ----"""<=­
Boundary
between BoiNla
and Pamguay
Territorial dispute
bel_OUKUOd
Argen!<nB.
40'S
o
,
o
500
,
,
1,000 mi
500 1,000 km
!
/
,jP F&!kJa<1d Isi:mds
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
r1slas Malvin.3S)
• 60"'1/;
<loe"\'
20"111'
limited at best. In the 19905 Mercosur and t-;AFTA emerged
rra­
;ral
>us
~en
'}Us
es,
n:>
e[s
\5­
(el
es,
is
~. Figure 4,31 Protesting political violence Women protes·
tOfS demond ,ustice for the alleged killing of "disappeared"
labor organizers in Hondvros. Political violence at the hands of
state, poramilitary, and guerrillo orgonizotions is a tragic under­
current affecting the lives. of many latin Americans (R:Jb Cron·
doll/Rob Crondolt Photographer':
as supranational structures thal could mfluence devel{)prr.en~
4 ,3()), FOi Lann A:nrrica. t::e lessons of MerC05L~r
a::d KAFIA are ca<..:smg polillc:..ans ~o rethmk the value of re~
gional trade
Mercosur was formed in 1991 with BrazIl and Argentma.
the two largest econcmies m South AmenC3, and [he smaller
slates of Crugl1ay and Par:o.guay as members. Since its form3­
[lon. trace among these countries has grown tremendou5ly~ 50
much 50 rhat Chile anu Bolivia have now joined the group as
aSSOCiare members This is slgnHicant in two v,:ays: it reflects
the growth of these economies and :he vv"lEmgness [0 put aside
o~d nvalnes {especially long-sranciing amagomsms belween
Argent:na ,md Bra:1D for rhe economIC benefas of coopera­
tion As of 2000, Mercosur represented a market of 240 mll­
!ton people with a combmeu G'lP of $1.100 LUion
Intraregional trade \),,1.ch;n [he group (excludmg BoliVl3 a:"d
Chile) was estImated Jt nearly $19 bilhan III 1999. The size
and prod<":C:IV!~y of this market have nm g\Jnc unnoticed Mer­
cosurs leaders negotiate uirectly v.-ith the European Union :0
159
160 CHAPTER 4 latin America
i,
,I;
"
develop separate trade agreements \\'nh Chlle on board. ex­
pansIOn i:lto Asian-PaClflc m-,rkcts is also likely
;f emhUS1J;;m for Meycosur lasts, trans po nation and COITl­
mumcation '!:Jttween Scur.her!l Cone counme" will certainly
improve Plans abound to fundamentally rework the flow of
g00cis a!1d comm1Jnica[lon m thIS area. As pnvauzJtlon of
the teiep!-lOne companies has be_neft:tci (etecommunl,-~au0n,
maJor JOInt engiilcering projects arc he~ng considered. 5.:uo­
les afC under \vay to lmprove J:13vigatlOn along !he Parana
3!1G Paraguay riWTS_ Vthh::h are already lmpo;tan~ artenes for
the transport of grams_ Other schemes mclude bwldmg a
bndge across the Piata Rive:- eSlu3ry ro form a more direct
1mk between lhc capa.al cnies oll~ruguay and Arge::una, a
tun:1e~ thwugh the Andl's between ChIle and Argentina, and
a regIOnal networi, of natUral gas plpc:l:nes that would !ml<
Bolivia, ArgcJ::ti:Ja. and souther!! Bra:l] b short, lhe ciabor
ration :...i 1\l€!"({)su:- (auld change t~;e ,-,:ay :ndiv;duals in thf:
member COU:ltnes rclale to (lne another and think abcut
r[,emselves. Much hke the E~lr0pean C!11on. \\'hich has 105­
tered a ser:se of ~:::'Hopean idenmy, Mercosur may over rime
shape a Southe:-n Cone ;,de::my
::\AFTA rook dfe.cl in 1994 ;1<; a free trade aiea that would
gradual~y t;lmmate tanffs and ease ~he movement of goods
3.mong the :ucmbe: Lour_tnes ;:Mexico, Lhe Umtfd States. and
CanJ.da; ~AFTA has mcreased ~lluaregional trade (es[!ma[~
eci at more Iha:1 $700 blll:on 111 1999\ b:lt there ,;-.. conslde:­
able contro.. . ersy abour COStS to the ennronmem and :0
employme:m (sec ChapleT .3) NAFTA chd prove, hO\\-CVef,
that a free trade a:-ea con:binmg mduslr:alized and develop­
::r.g s:a:es was posslble !vforeover,:t gave fnrthn lmpems to
the herrnsp!1ettc V1SlOn of :he Free Trade Area of {he Amen(>
a~ ,:F:M), whlch \Vas first proposed m 1994 at the .t>.haml
Summit of the Ameilcas, nU:-ly~four states from Car:ada, ~he
Cnited S~ates. and a:! of Latin .A,merica ;except Cuba, whICh
was not mvlted) have agret:d lQ conclude negonauons by
2005, FTA/\ embodies the ldea:s of neohberahsl1;. whlCh
holds that increased trace and economIC mtegratwn Win l:n""
prove the st.andard of hving fo:- people in :he Amencas. If an
agreement 15 reached. FTA"\ will be the largest free aaJe area
m the world. mdudmg more than 800 miilicm pcupie, Yet
there are mat:y detracwrs, as Witnessed by orgamzed prorests:
In QUefJec, Canada, and Porto Alegre. Btazi~, in 1001
USe of patronage. eX[Qrtlo~n","""n"
1980s the Sl-jniJ1g Path telTorize
ar:d cau~d cityvv'.de blackouts
fied the !-llghlands, cspeclaU yacuchc, to live
Lial reh.:gees
in Llma With the capt
of ihe Sh;ning Paths lear e
llS destt'Jcrive fOI<:e
5 greatly d:mlnlshec. In Colombia, h
evtr. two major
i-armtd insurgt::ncy groups oust: the FARe
and lhe EL' ,-;Jationai LtberatiOr:. Ar:n1')' Their tB.ctics of kra­
::appm xtortj()n, blo\\-1.ng 'JP plpelines, ar:.d closing public
-:-02 lege:1da;:y 7he [w{) groups were entiched by tr,e dmg
the: 9905, and there are now d. recogn"'~
(or:"'o:to zone in the sOl1~hem Umos and a pno[J!sed
central Magdalena nver bas:n_ -:-he !.".",,", "r ._-,
C()lotJ1";i ha5 escalated f1.}T~her with (he rise r:/pararm).tan
gt()UllS--\,,'eli-armc'dvigilante groups [ha~ seek rcl"cl"'n.~' ,.,:;
sympalh1zer'l T:-:e para:cninarf
pohtlCally motivated [mmln'
20no C(,ilJml,l:. also has [he dlsLlnctlon of
ttn ti:nes that of the
gion's problern\,
also generates
of dollars for
the sma:l coca farmer in
Bohvia ~o the
The drug trade began
m earnes;: 10
at ns center By the
19805 :-he !vl,,,l.e1i'r
and wealthy crime
syn::hcate thc.t
to b:-ibe or murder a,,>;.yone
who got m :ts w"y\,Tb,e n[(emil"inn was profoundly weak· "
ened bv tbe dealh
Pahlo Escobar. '" 1993, but
by then t~e Cali
to take. contrcI. Its power'
\\';1.5 reduced by
in 1995 ~0 O!1t c.artd
dom~nare5 the drug
,inslead, H has decemrahzed
that afe lxoductivr and cre·
mto dO=e.lli of smaller
attve, !r:.HiaUy, most
d~e;nrm'lrrscared im1e about con­
trOlling d',e drug trade
tJrought m much-:1eedeci hard
CJrrency, \Vithin the
drug cons-JI:1pno:1 was scarcely
d problem, Some drug
even became popular fo!k he·
on housmg, parks. and schools
roes, lavishly spending
[or theu communities. Ji:e\?o<:iai cOSts of d:e drug trade to
LHin Amenca became
by the i 980s wher: ;:he region
was cnppled oy a
JudlCul sysltn By paying
off police_ the
polidcans, the drug s111·
dv.:ales wield
power :ha[. threatens the ci'"i1
fabnc of the
work YeMs of counler·
reduce. the overall flow of
natcoUcs work
Grugs to ~onh
but the programs have
changed the
"Plan Colombia and the
Hemisphenc
At the grc'SSjroo[s ievel, scores o~~ri;arrw"l(mshave fonnec
to pmtest
glc)~!lrzatlon. it can be argued
that the ZapJllS!.a rebellion in
MexlCo was u: part a
reactio:1
The
began 0:1 Jan·..:ary 1,
1994, m
[he day NAFTA
effect. Although Zap3~istia slj"p,orletS--];lIgelyArl1erm.dla~,p(!asantS--'l[e mcstl1'
basic ser.ri.ces, ~helr
m()ve~{'nt reflecrs a general C0:1Cern
how increased for­
. and investment hun rJral peasi\rts.ln SO'Jth Amer·
;::l:Y of Cochabam'ba, BohVla, Wi'S 1tn·g;:ife.:: in protest
in
as. some 600,000 peasants ra~hed
lovro plaza to
de'oClClce :he pnvatization of the wa~er 1
• :"[,e govern~
ment !-lad sold the rig!'u to dl:5lnbute water
mulnnatlonal
corporat:oI1 led by SpaIn_ As a result of the·
water prices
c
Geopolitical Framework
oed
tll1
dnrerse a~ Croatia Russla. Ch1ll3, So'..:th Korea. Irar
stone::o ~n ther :J.ative ('vuntne:. and, m 50 domg. celebra[~
:he uniq:.:e char3ctensrics of Clulean:::, Colombians, Peru·
Viarb. MeXIcans, and B:-a:llians D1StI::-:ct pohtical cultures
evolved. WhlCh at nmes led to t:.xpansto::ist polIcies that
brought neighbors lUO conflict. The geDpohoc.al dlmer:.sio'::s
of [I:ese muareglOnal dl:;pmes w1ll be chscussed m the fol~
e Unl[­
cd ::tdtPS 'Ed France. as well as throughout
th
:n­
in
tm
:1'­
155
lOVi·'mg Stetlor.
r pl,a,ne had trouble arnvmg at
:he gJt?: ~ecau~c
le large c
"ds :hat came to greet ~:er. In
r broad 3pp'::31, b.. nove1as are big busmess,
perhaps
XlCO'S largest intcrnano.
export. \~':hile Holly~
IG1
,
fte
:al
1S
\\lOD~
d Mumbai gn:1d Gut movies,
nmeHt industry is geared TOward
fn3(lJtar and loved an form
lV
National Identities \ ~iewed from the Ol:L5ide, there IS con~
Slderable homoger;.e:~y to thls reglon, yet dlStmcl Banonal :denLann America. Smce the
tines a::d CU:lUf,"S f1our:sh
days of the repubhcs. cou::tne.,> celebra~ed parucubI elements
fm:n their pasts whe:: creatmg their natlonal h15tones, In the
case of BrazJ!, the cOl:n:ry:S intE'rrao;Ji c:C.aractenstlcs were
lughhght.;,d to plOdJim a new society m whlCh the (010: lines
be,wefn Eurcpeans a::d Aln:.:a::-.s ceased to matter. Mexico
~'Jrned to nsA=tec past, cclebraung the archHectural and cul­
:~:ral ach;evemE'nts oE lts predec.essors wlnle at the same ,ime
forgmg an asslmilat10nist strategy ~hat dLscouraged
mdlgenous culture and langu3ge
:V1:":SlCal a:",d danCe tradirions evolved and became em·
blematlc of these new socieLies, :-he tango in ArgemiiJ.ct, the
vanen~to and cumb:a t!1 Colomhia, the lldriachi ill ~lex:co,
[he huaynos in Peru, and Ihe samba in Brazil are
C1S­
o::.gubhed styles lha: of:en become popular anthems for the
na~icns m the reglOn (F:gure 4.2n Litersture also reflects t:-:e
perceived cleavages in identity found in Lat:n Amenca. \\lrit~
crs such as Isabel il.Jlende, Gabriei Garcia ).·1arquez. :"'1ano
Vargas
Carlos Fuentes, and Jorge Amado situate thetr
(al
f
Geopolitical Framework:
Redrawing the Map
h is Laun Americas colonial his:ory, more than ltS prcsem
cond!non, lhat 'c:niftes th:::: TeglOn. For the iirs~ 300 yea:-s after
Colurnb.:.s's arrival, Lann Amenca was a terntolial p-:-l:e
sough: by vanO'--lS European c"u:'.tries but effectlve;y ;:;ettlt:c
bv Sp:nn and Po::tugal. By the fH.:;e~et:lllh cen::ury The inde­
pendent sta:,es of Lar:n Arr.en.:a had lormed, bUI
;,::on­
nn"'Ced to expe:tence foreign inf:uerrce ar:d, at limes, oven
:Johucal pres.sure, espeCIally from the L1rmt:d States, At other
times d mOre neutral Pan-Amenca:!:', visior~ of Ameican rela­
tions -and hemispheric coo?eranon has held sway. represent ~
E'd by the :onn3.tlon o~ the Organization of American States
(OAS). Tile present organizatio:-. was chartered m 1948, bet
,(5 ongms date back to 1889. Yet there. 1S no do,,;br that l' S
poiI;:ies toward rrade, economic aSsistance, pohtical devel­
opment, and at times mili-:ary mLervenllon -are often seen as
compromtsing lo t::e: sovereignty of :hese. Slates. !'..Iany Latm
Amer:cans view the proposed Free Trade Area of the Amer­
icas (fIAA) as a:::other exampLe of the t~n:ted States' im­
posing its eccnomk mteres(s on the rest of the: henusphere
\\'lthm La:r:, Amenca :he:re have been cycles of mtrare­
gwnal cooperanor: and ant2gcmsm .\Ieighboring coun:nes
have fought ove.r tenitory, dOSed borders, lmposec high t2r~
iffs, and cm off di?lomat:c relanons, Even today there are a
do::-en long-standing border d:sputes in unir: Amenca that
(OJ
" Figure 4.27 Musical traditions (0) Mariachi musicians pose in the:r performar,ce C05\t;mC$. Mariachi blends
European horn ar.d string instruments with lyrics that celeDrate Mexican Iif(L [b} A samba bond marches in the streets
of Rio de Janeiro. Samba is the quintessential mus:c 0 1 carnival and draws inspirotion from Afrkan rhythmic tradi­
tions. [(a) Werner Ber!sch/Bruce Colemon, Inc.; (b) NturjJo Du!ra/Corbis/Sfock Market]
I
156 CHAPTER 4 Latin America
occasionally empt IDlO armed conl1ict The 199\):; wltnessed
a revival m the trace block concept with the formation of
Mercosur \the Southern Cone Common ~tarket, whICh m·
dudes Brazll.1Jrug~a); Argemma, and Pacaguay as fuli mem­
ber::: and Bolina and Chile as aSSOCiate rne:nbers") a!1d NAFTA
(MexIco, the Unlted Slates, and Canada; 1t is posslble :.hal,
as these economic tles strengthen, these trade blocks could
form the basIs for a new alignmen!. of polilical and econom~
lC :ntcreSlS :n the region
III
!
!
!,
.1,
i<l,.lberian Conquest and Territorial Division
"'"f·· Beca'G.se It '.vas Chnsrophe:r Columbus who claimed the Amer­
~cas for Spain, the Spanish were r:-:e first act;ve colonial agents
in the \,Vestern Hemisphere. In \:ontrast, the Po::-tuguese pres­
ence in the AnH'ncas was :he result of the Treaty of Torde­
sillas, brokered by :he pupe III 1493-94. By that time
Portuguese nang81DrS had char:ed much of tr.e coast of Arnea
m an attempt to llnd a '.vater route to the SplCe Islands
(\101uccas: m Soulheast Asia, \\,Hh the help of Chnstophcr
Columbus, Spain sought a western route to the F,H East
v\'hen Coiumbus disG.we:ed the Amencas, Spa:n a::d Portu­
gal asked the pope to settle how these nev,; terntories should
be divided. \Virhout consultIng o!he European powers, the
pope di\1ded the Atlanac world m half-the eastern half con­
taining the African continent was av:arded to Porrugal, [he
western half \vi~h most of the. Amer~ca5 was given to Spain
ThIS treaty \1,."as never recognized by rhe French, English, or
Dutch, \\Ino also assened ter::Honal claIms :n the Americas.
but It did prov:de :he legal apparatus for :he creatIOn of a
Portuguese terntory in America-Brazil-wruch would later
become the largesl and most populm;.s Slate in L1tin Amen·
ea (F!gure 428)
The Treaty of TordesHlas preseme~~ a number of interest­
ing geographical problems It eeered rhat a Ime would be
dta\v11 370 leagues We.SI of rhe Portuguese~(ontT0l1ed Cape
Verde lslands, yet exactly how long a league was and whIch
island was the starting point '.\'2.5 nor specIfied. Today ir is es­
timated that the lme fell somewhere between the 48th and
49th \vest :ines oflongit-.;.de, which awarded the easte!"n lhlfd
of what 1S now Brazil to ~he Portuguese_ To comphcate mat·
~{:rs L:.rthcr, Columbus was convmced t:tat the \VeSl lndian is~
lands he discovered were in Asia, off the coast or Carhay
(China). The eXlstence of the Pacific Ocean, let alone- the con~
[inems of NOTth and South Amenca, was unkno\YT. when the
trcaty was signed_ Thus, the treaty established a far larger
Spanis:--. colonial rerntory ~han any of the participants real~
ized; Spain uitimare!Y extended its claims across rhe Padfk to
the Islands of the PhiUppmes
Six years after the trelly was SIgned, Portuguese naVigator
Alvares Cabn:d madvertently reached the coas: of Brazil on a
voyage to southern Africa. The POl1uguese soon realIzed rhat
th1S terrirory was on their SIde of rhe TOldesiHas hne, binaay they
we~e unimp;'essed by what Brazil had to offer; there were no
spices or major indigenous serr:ements QUlckly, however, they
carne: 1'0 apprt:ciate the unhty of rhe coast as a provi.."iomng site
as wen as a source for brazih,l,iQod, used to produce a valuable
dye Ponuguese mteresr in the lcnitory mtenslited 111 the late S1X~
tec:n~h cen:ury with the deveiopment of sugar estates and the e.x­
pansion of the slave trade and m :hc seventeenth century wllh
the discovery of gold in the BraZllian interior
Spam, III contrasL dggresStn~ly p';;.rsued the conquest and
seulemcm of its new Amencan terri tones from the very Stan.
Af:er dlscovering little gold in the Canbbcan, by rhe mtd­
sixtcc~th cent..;ry 5pain's energy was directed toward devel­
opmg the" s:lvtx resources of Central "t\'ieX1rO and the Central
Andes (most notab:)' Potosi in Bolivja) Gradually the econ­
omy diver~lfied LO mdude sone agricuItu:;-al exports, such as
cacao anc. sug,ar, as well as a varlety of livestOck In terIT!-S of
foodstuffs, t:,e colOniES were vlrfually self-surhcienl. Some
basic manu:actu:;-cd nems. sue!: as crude woolen cloth and
agricu~tural tools, were also produced, bur. in ge.r'.eraL man­
ufactunng was forbIdden in the Spanish Amencan COi0:11eS in
order w keep them dependent on Spain
~Revolution and Independence 1: was nO! unul ~he 18005,
'I With
a rt'Sf' of revolul1onary movements bCt\\Ten 1810 and
IH26, that Spanish authority on the nainland was challenged
l"bma:ely elites born in the ArneHcas gained control. dis­
placmg lbe representatives of the cro\\'TL In BraZil the evo~u­
non from Fortuguese colony to mdependent tcpubl;( W2.S a
slower and less ViOlent proCESS that spanned ctght decades
(J808~89), in the ninereen:h century Brazil was declared a
separate kingdom from Portugal ¥lith lts own monarch, and
lalet beca!l1E', a. republic
It was the terntorial diviswn of Spanish and Porlugese
Amenca lUto adnirnstranve umts tha: provided the 1egal bas:s
for the modern states of bti:'. America (Figure 4.28'1. The
:Spanish colonies were first drviced into (WO viceroyalGes
l;.Je\v Spajn and Peru) and whhin these wele \'arious subdj~
\lswns that later became the basiE for the moden states. On
the eighteenth century the Viceroyalty of Peru,
1l1~
eluded all of Spa:1lSh South Amenea, was div,dcd to form
three vkeroyalnes La Plata, Peru, and New G!"anada) Un­
hke BraZiL w~ich evolved :rom a colony into a smgle repub­
lic, the former Spanish colonies expene:::ced fragment arion
In the nmeteenth century, Prominent among revolutionary
leaders was Venezuelan-born Slmon Bohvar (Figure 4,29),
who advocated his vision for a new and mdependent Slate of
Gran Colombia, For a shon t,me (l8n~30) Bobats VIsion
was reahzed, as ColombIa, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama
were combmed m-:o one political unit. Sinilady, in 1823 rhe
United Provinces of Central America was formed to avoid
annexatlOn by Mexico. By the 18305 this union also broke
apan into the states of Gualenala, Honduras, E: Salvador,
NlCaragua. and Costa Rica _Today rhe former Spanish m3::n­
land colomes mdude 16 states (pLs three Caribbean islands),
wi,h a to,al populaaon 0[340 million If [he SpanLsh colomat
tcrrilOry had remained a umned polnical unir, If wo~ld now
have the thud largesr population In the world, follOWing
Cnl!1a and Indla
w::tcn
Persistent Border Conflicts As the colomal admimstratlve
units turned mto states, it becan:e clear that the terrirorIes
were not c~early dehmlred, espenaUy the borders rhat stretched
Geopolitical Framework
'" Figure 4.28 Shifting political boundaries
cx­
: as.
s of
157
The evo­
lution of pol:ticaf boundaries in lotio America began with
Ihe 1494 Treaty of Tord.,ilia" which 90ve much of the
Americas to Spain and 0 slice of South America to Portu­
gaL The lorger Spanish territory was gradually divided
into viceroyalties and oudiencias, which formed the basis
fof mony modem notional boundaries. The 1830 borders
of these newly indeperdent states were for from fixed. Bo­
livia would lose i~s access 10 the coos!: Peru WOJld gain
much of Ecuador's Amazon; ond Mexico would be
shipped of its northern territory by the United Stoles,
(From Lombordi, Cathryn L, and JOhn v: Lombardi. lotin
American History; A Teaching Atlas. © ) 993, Reprinled by
permission of the UniversiJy of Wisconsin Press)
md
Latin America
in 1650
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PANA.MA
1536 &1!S61
'"',
, r ' ] "Vicemyally 01 'New Spain
I L~.::J
an~
I
Viceroyalty 01 Peru
Blazil
510
5:1 W
!'
Latin America
in 1830
PACIfI-:-:
OCEAN
<!
500
,--,--,
States with date of independence
des
da
i::d
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
1
,tJ?O mi
.
0500:~
2' '­
AT:_Ar.,'TiC
OCE4.V
UNITED
,esc
;J51S
[he
Hl­
>rm
.In­
PACli'"lC
OCEAN
ub­
wn
ary
>os
'9\
?
ci
JOn
ma
the
,nd
Jke
lor,
n;:;­
o!
o
500
sOO
'lOW
1,opOmi
1,600 km
ATLANTiC
OCEAN
'COW
11al
ow
mg
~lVe
nes
1ed
into the spa:-::ely pop'..:lated lnterior of South Amenca. Tht:.
would later be(Ol:le a source of conflict as new states s~nggled
to der::arcalc their terntonal boundaries_ Numerous border
Wars empted m the ninetee:::.th an.d twentieth cemunes. and
the map of latin Amerx:a has bee:: redrawn m.my nees_ Some
of the more nOled conflicts were the Vv'ar of the PaclfIC
(1879-82) 10 which Chile expanded to the north and Bah1a
to:): its acces~ to the Pacihc warfdre be:wcen Mexico a::d ~_he
Umted States in the 1840s, whtch resulted in :he present bor~
de: under the Treaty of Hidalgo {1848:
;)lld
Mex~co$loss of
158 CHAPTER 4 latin America
ndtionaLst (lin:n:; aTe sY!:lhclic Recent ;:redt1es. sn.ow an in­
Ltrnan0~1al mclinatlO:-;' LOward cooperauon and the bannmg of
comlaerCla~ e>..lJloiltlt1Cm of rhe con;ment
The Trend Toward Democracy
.& Figure 4.29 Simon Bolivar Heroic likenesse:> of Simon
Bolivar (the liberolor) ore fauna throughout South America, espe­
cially in his native country of Venezuela. This statue stands in the
(Rob
centrol plaza of the Andean city of Merida, Venezuela
Crandall/Rob Crandoil, Photographer)
i
\I wha: became the southv.-cstern F;:itfJ S:ates, and the Vv'ar ~Jf
:he Triple Alliance (1864-70;, [he blood lest war of the pest-­
colomal peLod, whteh occurred \\'he:1 Argemna, Brd:ll, and
lJrugmry a~hed thcrnselve~ LO defeat Paragu3.Y in irs cla~m to
centrol rhe upper Par.ma River Basm. lr lS csnra3ted tha[ the
adu~~ male popuhrion in Parag~lay was reduced
:1i::c<eEihs
as a resdt of this confhcL Sixty years lattY- the Chaco \V'ar
(l932~3S) resulted :n a rerritonalloss [or B(11~'v1a in 1[S east
er2 lowlands aad a ga:n for Paraguay In the 1980~ Argentma
1051\ a war with G:-ea: Bntam over control of (he Falkland, or
~1alvl~:as_ Is!ands m t~1e South Atlar:ric And ,~s receatly 3.5
1998, Pen.: and Ecuador skumisned over a d:spmed boa:r:d-­
ary' m the AClazen Basm {FIgure 4 30)
Oumght \}.'ar in ~he regIOn is less commor:. than ongoing
and n.1gg1:1g dlsputes OH:r internalional boundaries Any of
a dozen: dormant clalm~ empt from ume to ume, gIven the po~
lltical chmme between neigh'8Ofs_ These j::1dude Guatemala's
c1:nrn to Belize, Venezuela and Guyana's border diSpute,
Ecuador's cla:ms LC :r,e PeruVian eastern lowlands, and :he
marbme boundary dispute berween Honduras and
~1Caf2gua_ Many of tbese dlsimtes are based on bstoncal ter­
riror:al I..'lar:ns dating back :0 the colomal period
One of the mort mtcrescng geopobtical confllCt; in the
Som!ler:: Cone 15 based on rerriwrlal claims to Antarcuca_
St:vcn c!amumt stales--Argen:ina, Chile, Norv,ay, the Uni:ed
Kingdom, France, ~ew Zealand, and Ausrraha--p:us five
nonclaHn,mt states (including the United S:ates) secK resource
rights to !\nrarc[lca_ Even though an AntarclC Treaty has ex~
isted SinCe i959 st.:ilmg rh,;l[ the landmass shaule: be USCG [or
peaceful purposes, Chile and Argentina have n,-corporated
~he:r Antarctic Territorial dai:ns on natior.al maps and even
postage star:tps A Chile,m president, Pinoche[, spenr a week
lOuring rhe Cluiean claim Hl [he 19705 Argentma hel(: a na­
nonal (abme~ mcenng on HS portion of Am:arc-tlc;J 111 the
19705 and then sent a pregnant Argennne woman to gtve
b:nh :0 ~he continen~'s fust ch!ld FOT the most pan, these
w
'I! I
I
I
I
EdtlV
m the
Iwenty-ilTst .
cent-';TY most of the 17 cot:ntrl(:~ in t:11:; region \\'C"JI ce~ebrate
their bicentennials _CompaTed wit!": mos: of the developing
wadeL Latm, Amencan'i have bet'n m~eper1dent f01 a long
ume, Ye;. pOlltlCa1 s:ablllry b r.at a halheark of the region,
Amo:lg the :-:oumni'::, m tr:e region, son:e 250 COn.-,;;tilUtions ',:
have been \.."!1lren smce iIldependence. and rrdnary coups
have been alar::umgly ft~'que:1L 5mce [he 19805, however, the
t!end has been toward de:T)ccxatiC31h; elected e:overnmen'S
lhe openmg of marhers, and broader ~opuiar p;rtlclpanon;~
the pchrica; process \Vhere d~cld!or5 once oUID'..:mbered
elected leaders, by the 1990~ each c()un~T)' ~n the region l'.ad
a uemccraticallvelectt:d pr6~de::: (C.'1oa, Lht one exception
v;ill be dlscuss;d ~n Chd?te: 5_ ';
,
DL_rnO(TaL~y may nut be ('T,ongh for t~1e mlllio:::s fr'Jsnared
by the slnw pace of P(111:icai and CConoIT.lC :efonn In s1:rvey
after survey. limn Am12!"lC3n5 regisre; tt1elr (1tssallsfac:ion \\-"1th
polmci3rl5 and govern!11ems Most of the new~y eircted dem~
Oct2.flc leaders are also ireewl-:larlzet reformers who arE; Q-01Ck
to ebrninate state-backed SQoat safety :1et<;, such as food sub~
sidles, government ~o[):::, a:lc1 per::slOTIS \1any of the poor and
rmddle (lass have grmvn s.;zcpnca: ab011~ v.:helhcr rhis orand
of democracy ('ould make ~hetr iives beneT The pO~J.tK;al leEr,
however, has yet TO prodLice an alternative te· pnvatizatlon
a:12 market-dnven pobucs_ For aow, the stams quo (,)nti:)w
ues, J.hl'.ough ?Op:.t:':l:- frusrr:Hlo:: with faltmg incomes, ns~
mg \lolence and Chro::lC :.mderemp!oyment are a reCIpe for
pohtlcal mSrablli!y as see~1, for exa:nple_ HI [he Andear: cour,~
trIes ar:d Cent! al Awerica (Figure 4.31)
Economic and Social Development
r\RC­
EL~J·
ien(e
ht2.ry
areas
Economic and Social
Development: Dependent
Economic Growth
lIned
\] in
Hder
p;;; as
aced
s lor
!v1ost Latin Ar:lerjcar: econom:es h :.mo the broac. IT.ldd:e­
mcome category -SE'.1 by The \\'orld Bank Clearly part of the dc­
veiopmg wc-::-ld, then people arc much be-ttet off than those
i:1 Sub-'sahJran Afnca, Sout:: As:a, and Chu-:a Snl: the eco­
;OIP­
0Ll},
-3te.5,
norrae contrasts arc: sr,arp ~o~h between states and with:n
them (Table 4_2) Generally, the Southern Cone states (Ei.­
..:~udmg50Ulhern Bra:::l and excludmg Parag1Jay) are th~~ cch­
est
leads the way wIth a per capita Gr\ i of :£, 7.550.
:ol1owed "!ly Lrr:.guayat 50_220 Braz:: and !VieXlCO, the largest
co"C.ntnes In Lan:: /\menca, have per capita GNIs around
$4,400 The p00reS( cou.;;.tr:::.s 1:::1 the region lie in Centrai
Ameri(~a and [he Allde~, In 200 1. ~lCaragua, Honduras, and
Boliv!a had per capita mcorne flgures of tess t~an .$ ~ ,000
Eve-:1 w-ith its midd!e-mcclDle $ra:us_ extreme po",'eny is C'\~~
de:::[ thrcughou: zhe region, :1t:arly oiJ{>third of aE Laun
Aa:encar.s live on less than $2 a day
Development pO:lCles 0: the 19605 and 1970$ accdera:ed
I mdus:r:ahzauon and infrastrJC:ural develop:flen~, but they
also fostcled debt and rural displacement, All ;;eCtoIs of the
economy we:;e :adlCallv transtormed, Agncuhura! produc~
e r?~
10::'5
::r in
::gan
~he
'lme
'cnc
::ak­
hut
\>"et
jr~el
zed
::re~
on~
ad
:e:y
h~-
[;on E-:creased wItl: the app:K:atloli. of "STeen revoll1~l\)::;' <.echo
no:ogy and mechamzauon State-run mdustnes red-~lC'2d the
ar:d the sen.'1ce ;::ect(lr ballooned as
neeti fa, imported
a re~ull of :Jew goven:ment and pnva'"e jobs. Protecuomst
tanffs ensined that dcmest~cally manufacnsed goods would
be consui:1cd over trr..pt'ES. Yft thIS Tt:sh fO ~nL,den:Ee pn>
duced V1C!I:ns in ,:1[01 areas poverr:r landlessness, and mad~
eqLlate syster:1s of cedu styr:lled the prodUC:1Vli-Y of srr.all
farmers, As rural people were p'.Js:~ed off the ~~md, there were
no: enough Jobs m mdusrry [0 absorb them, so they created
thelf Q\.vn mche in the urban mfor:nal economy In tr:e end,
most cQ:;,ntries :nade {he tranS1L::m from predonllnan~ly rura~
a:1d agranan ecouo:nies dfpenderu on one or [\,-,'0 commodi·
:Ic" ~o more econo:nicaHy dlveT;;ified and uro3r.l:::ed coun~
tne_s wuh rmxed le'.irls of indclstTiahza~LOr:
Development Strategies
Smce the 1950s- Latin America nds expe!lmen:ed wah \'an~
ous developmer.t
from dosed econonles reha::! on
import substitution ;po~iCles t:-:a[ foster domestlc E1dusuy
by Imp(1sing mHated tarIff.::. (lH :til impo::-ts) te,
~ra~e-mn
TABLE 4.2 Economic Indica lars
to!':
Country
Total GNI
(Millions of
$U.S" 1999)
GNI per
Capita
($U.S" 1999)
GNI per
Capita, ppp'
($Intl, 1999)
Average Annual Growth
GDP per Capita,
1990-1999
ala
ing
--.---.--------.--~--------.--.-----~----.-------
yn­
,vii
cr­
Argentino
Bolivia
Brozil
Chil.
Colombia
Costo Rico
Ecuador
EI Salvador
,D:
tvt:
the
,cd
led
Guatemalo
a
t
Honduro$
)
lp­
liv
e;r
;r~T ~
::S(
:0
Il-
(.0.1
es
Mexico
,
I
i
I
I
!
~
Nicoragua
Panama
Poraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
$276,097
8,092
730,424
69,602
90,007
12,828
16,841
11,806
18,625
4,829
428,877
2,012
8,657
8,374
53,705
20,604
87,313
$7,550
990
4,350
4,630
2,170
3,570
1,360
1,920
1,680
760
4,440
410
3,080
1,560
2,130
6,220
3,680
$11,940
2,300
6,840
8,410
5,580
7,880
2,820
4,260
3,630
2,270
8,070
2,060
5,450
4,380
4,480
8,750
5,420
-.---~,--~,---.-,~--,-~----~~-,~-,~-----
'Purchasing power parity
Source, rhe World Bonk Alios, 2001
na­
:iol1alized Industnes and V3nCl'')S (lL~emp:s at agrarian refoEH
By the 1960:; Bra:nl. :\lexico, and ArgentmB. aU seemed pOl~ed
w enLer ti:? tanks of the :nd'.lsrria~i;:ed \vor:d. :'1u:lHarer21
agencles s'J.(~ as the \Vorld Bank and :he bter-Amencan De­
velopment Bank loaned mOi:1ey for big development p::-OJf:ClS
contlnental highw;rys_ daITls, mecham:ed agncu!ture. and
powe:· p:ams. Yet the dream of che 19605 became a nightmare.
by [he 19805 Argentinas eco:lOmy, whiCh was larger than
)0[5
:to
161
..
36
18
1.5
5.6
1.4
3.0
0
28
1.5
0.3
10
0.4
2.4
-0.2
3.2
30
-0.5
---.-.---.--~-.~----.-~-
162 CHAPTER 4 Latin America
Plan ( olomhia and Ihe Hemispheric Drug \\'ar
n 1989 Presidem George R \}..' Bush declared war on CO~
Icai::lc prodeCtlOI: in ihe Andes At that Brue the maJor pro­
(1,:-"."
duc:ion :::enters were in the cloud forests of Peru and Bolivia,
and the producers were peasants working sl'!1all plolS. Dur­
ing the 1990s coca leaf productIOn (the mam ingredIent for
cocame) shIfted IO the Tam forests of Colombia, an(l coca
was being grown on large, u:odern estates. PiaT: Colombia;
introduced Qy Presldem Clinton in 2000. upped d:e stakes
m ~!le d:ug war \\:1th a cornmitmem of $13 bIllon to Colom­
bia alone. Smce 1990 rhe United States has spent bet\\,.'een
SJ billIon and 54 billion :0 reduce AncicJn coca and coeajoe
producnoTl ProponenLc. of this producrlon-onented s:rategy
ale dmrni:lg vlCtory, as BolIvian and Permian produc~10n has
tumbled (see Figure 4 4,1). Yet the overall aLea of coca cul­
ri'.ratron has fallen Daly slightly from 209000 hectares in
,,)"\1
C
1
I
SR AZI
1996 to 185,000 m 2000
The battle agamst the coca pla!lt begs for geographIcal
analysis regarding :he ecological requirements of the crop,
where 1t em be p;:oduced, what rhe di:::tnburion flows i!;-e,
and the ecological consequences of both coca ptoduct~on
and etadication, Coca 15 a perc!l:l1al shn:b nanve to ~he east­
en slopes of the Andes, 11 requu:es a Hoplcal chmate ane.
ample nun, Coca leaf was dOl:1Csricalec. by Andean agric"J.l~
UlralisLs because of lis ability to suppress hunger 3:ld fa­
tigue, Chewmg coca leaf also [educes nausea ar.d headache
broughr on by exposare w high altitudes, And coca is pres­
ent m Coca-Cola, although a deCOCal!lized leaf is used fo:- fla­
vcnng A highe~-ele\latiou variety IS still legally grown in
BoliVia and Peru for local consumpnou as a chewable leaf,
but 3. newer, lowilloud vanety l":as become the shI:.l~ of chotec
in Colombia,
The Central Andean states of Peru and Bohna, with
US support, used several sualegi£s, :ncludmg crop sub­
StimLlon, alternative development, inte:-dicuon of coca~car~
:ymg aHem fc and hand eradicatlon of coca fidds to cat
production (Figu;'e 4.4,2). S::tccess m Bolivia and Peru :ed
coca producers to relocate imo Colombia, closer to the pro­
cessing laboratoLes where cocaIne is made. (To comptic:ue
matters, a Colombia insurgency group, FARe, grew :ich
tram the s:.uge of coca far::ns m irs horne states of Putomayo
and Caqueu, ~hus becoming better a:n1.ed and increasmg
Japan~s
in 1960, ranked sevenreem:: in 1999. whIle Japan's
'Nas ranked second all wealth heiped foster a large n:iddle
class In ~1exi(;o that was badly shaken by (he debt Gisis m tl:e
ear~y 198\)5, And BraZil, the eighth largest ecor.omy :n the
",-orld, is the developing \votld's largesl de~tor. Braz:i also
naimains the regions worst Income dIspanty: 10 perce::: of the
c:mn:ry's richest people control nearly ;',alf the country's
wealt::, wh:le t!1e botrom 40 percem comro~ only 10 percenl
Industrialization
Slllce the 1960s most government de,
veioprr.em policies have emphaslzeJ manu:acluring, Vart­
ons strategic:. have been employed, from growth poles
i
0
200
400
~
o
10"8
200 400 km
I
,,
"
PACIFIC
OCEAN
1
I
Coca Cultivation
and leaf Production
(hectar••)
, _
I
Coca growing
area
it.
J
CIJZCO
Figure 4.4. 1 Coca-growing areas in South America AI,
though the oldest coca.growing regions ore in Bolivio and Peru,
Colombian traffickers turned Ihe processing and disfribution of
cocoine into Qn inlernotionol narcotics trode, By the lote 19905
the bulk of coca production had shifted
QU!
of Boliyia and Peru
and to Colombia. The U.S, government estimoled nearly
400,000 acres {l 85,000 hectares) of coco were in productIon
in 2000.
(Source: US. Government. "Lotin American Norcorics
Cultivation and Production Estimates, 2000. ")
(planned iIluustnal cemers) and nationahzed mdustfles to
import 5ub.stitutwu. The :esnhs !-:ave been mixed. Today
at leasl 25 to ,)0 percent of the male labor rorc~ In Mexico,
Argentina, Bta':l!, Chile, Colom!Jia, Peru, Uruguay, and
Venezuela 15 employed in industry Cutdudi:1g ninir:g, con­
srrncrion, and enetgy\ Yet rhis IS Lu shon of the hoped­
for levels of industrial manufactunng, espec1311y whet: the
size of urbar. populatlOns is taken into acconnL \Vhar is
more, t:::e most l:1dustnahzed areas tend ro be around the
capitals or in planned growth poles such as Cluaad
GuayaL:2, in Venezue!<l and the MeXican border ones of (jUM
dad Juarez and Tl]1Jana.
!
l
1
I
!
l
I
.-_.
_ .. _-------------­
Economic and Social Development
,.
Figure 4.4.2 Coca eradication
m
OJ ,OJ
the level of vlOler:ce m ~~e region.) The vane~y of C0ca be~ng
grown in Colombla 15 hdrd~er, wIth a targeT pmen:wJ gro...;~
ing area. than tradiuonal vanttles This is why Ecuadc.:-.
Brazi:, ar.d J./enczue1i, neighbors of Co~ombia, fear that Plan
Colombia II~ay ultimately push coca grov/ers into ihc [r0n·
rier fo:ests of :heir States, The coca t!"ade relle,:, uprm aT: iralCJ.:e clscpbmjon ner­
wor~ of both supplies and product in order to tnnvc_ The
ColombIans 2rc credited with organizmg the p~od"t:ctlo:1 of cc­
came. The)' deveioped a vane~y of shippmg lechniques, whiCh
mclude flying light :llrcraft over the }lJngle., stuffmg sacKs. of
coca:ne in:o carnalio~ boxes bound for ~ew Yo:k. Bud drv­
ing carloBds of cocaml;': across the MexlCan border Th:s llet,·
AI·
Peru, n of
790,
J
Hond-eradication of coco
been practiced :hroughout the Bo!ivian Chopare and the
Huollogo Volley of Peru. In this photo on eradication line
jHfestroyirig a coco field l1eor Tinga Mario, Peru,
erv
clion
tiCS
nes t-O
rocial'
exlCO,
aced
, (on­
oped­
I.
;fl the
'hat 15
ld [he
:udad
,f ClU
r
There are ca:::es in whiCh mdus:ry has t10unshed m non·
capita: Gties and wnhou: direct ;:,tate ::,'Jp port , Montelrey,
MexlCo, }"·fedelhn, COLombia: and Sao Paulo, B:-aztl, all dew
velope.d :mpO!TanL inciustnal secwrs m:nal.ly from local lU­
ves~ment. Long bdore \ledellin (2 million people) wa:,
associated wl:h cacame, H was a major center o£ textile pro­
dection, mo!"e mdust::-Jahzed than the la,ger capital ()f BogotA
A popula:: irr:age \)f MecielHlls mhabnants-lhe Somh Amf.r­
ican Yankees-sur:'aced in ::he 1950s Celebrated a.:: hard·
working a:1d entrepreneuLal to the core residenls developed
a strong sense of :-eglOna! ;:rride so that belllg from the de·
partmenr of An~ioq:Ha ~where MedelHr: is capita:) meam mare
163
\vo:'k is CODSla.ntly evolving, \Vhen drug t:n:oKer:lem eiTon::,
close one route, a new ("'ne so~)n ~;]kes it place.
CocaIne prod\.J.c:io:,. ;]150 reqUires supplies. pestiCldes,
(er~ilizers, 3!1d ?[Ocessing cherr:icals to elm ieaf tnto paste
and then cocame, This lmposes SOr:1e geographiCal ~lmltS un
productlon, as coca needs to be grmvn near roads or water·
\\-3Y" when' [he necessary Elatenals can be bro'Jght in Con­
seql;ctltly. the most rer:lote rainforest areas, where roads or
river ~rRfhc IS nol a\"aila~le> are unlikely se;::mgs for :arger
scale COGuac produclIon
Less appreciated 3re the envi:-O'1If'entdi consequc:1cc,s
of coca prod·,lo:oTI. GeogrdphcI Ken Young estnna:.es that
m Peru a!one a;: many as 2.5 mUlion acres (l million
hectares) of tropical forest were degraded in rhe 19bOs by
roca cu:uvauon. Delicate tropical ecosys~ems ar:d ~helr wa­
terways rET bemg cona;-r:mJted by (he toIlS ,if cnerrik&ls
:J5€d to produce coca:ne Unfortunately_ serious ecclogicd~
datnage rna\' also be occurrmg as a result of ewrhcatior: ef­
fort;;. The pre:erred me:hod m sO~Hhen: Colombia is aeri·
a: sprayng (wun L-.s helicopters), but bn:igation has nm
been rJ'UH successfuL and It causes senous health problems.
destruction of legal crops, mcreased social tension, and
damage to bGtr, lcreslrial and aquanc e:::osysttms. The
\\'orld Wildlife Fund has compared :he porenual enVl[or>
me:nlalllnpac of furmgal!on to that of Agent Orange m
Ylemam
his :he profltabl!ity ni the coca:ne trade that drives Jt
As long a.s there IS demand, :he su?piy will be meL SoH
confined t.o South Arnenca, COC2. ca.:-: grow in other ~ropi­
cal areas 0: S.:;,utheasl Asia, the PaciflC. and Afnca. The
poppy mdustry, the ':Jase for heroin, offers an ll1srru(uve
companson. Or:c;;: popples ....'erc a.~mosr an exdusrve crop
of Sou:heasl ASia, bet :oday Cen:ral /\S\a as weli 2.S C.elom,
b:a and Mexico are major producers of poppy for the hero·
In trade. Given lr.c global nature of the drug trade, It is
hkely that it new:y 1:1 Colombia against coca cultivation
will result i:;--, another "C0ca war" elsewhere. This doesn't
mean that nothing sho·clld be done; it only ur,dersco:-es the
:nherer..t problems aSSOCiated \\'llh a supp:y-o,ier:ted drug
pohey
til.:J.n bemg Colombian. Similar peceptwns exist for Mom:eI~
rey (3 mlllwn people\ a ci[y that is nel weL known out~lde
b'.lt IS perceIVed as :nnovanve, resourcefu:. and solidw
ly rmdd:e clas..'i v..r:lhln Iv1exic:o
The mdustnal giant of La~ir: Aoenca i:; meaop(llnan Sao
Paulo In BraZIL Rio de Jar:.eiro has greate: name recognition
and was the capral before Brasilia was b1)~it, bur it does r.Ot
haVe the economh~ muscle of Sao Paulo Tms cilY of 18 mHlion,
whkh vies with MeXlco City fo:- the n:~e of Laun Ar::ecca's
largesr, began to i::d:lstna~ize m the early 1900s when the
coffee merchants started to diversify theIr investments. Since
then, a eo:mbina[ion of pnvate aad statt'~owned ind"olSnies have
MeXICO,
164 CHAPTER 4
Latin America
agglomerated arou:1d Sao Paul(1_ \\/It!:m a 60-mile radtUs of
the city center, Jut,,)mobiles, ;:nrcraft, cht:m~;::a:5. processed
toods, and construction matenals arc prod::ced~ There are also
hea\'Y mdustry and industrial parks. \\l1th the pon of Sa:1t0s
n(~arby and the cuy of Rio ce Janeiro a few hour:: alva}'. Sao
Paulo 15 the uncontested fina::oal centcr d Brazt~ \\ nat stuns
most f:r5t~t1rne \1sitors !o Sao Paulo is the forest of bgh-nses
lhat greets them, a trop:c:al verSIOn of Manhattan. only l<,-rgt'!
I
I
i
1(\
I
i
: I
I
I
I
I
Maquiladoras and Foreign Investment The ~dexi(an as­
sembly plams ti:at hne the border with t~€ Umted States.
called maquiladoras, a:c charaClensric of manufactUnng sy,.:.­
tcns in an lr.creasing!y glob--dlizeci eco:lomy Mo,e than 4,000
r:1aquilaci,,)ras exist, cmployiYlg l 3 c:nl1wn people who .'5­
semble- at~tor.1Clbiles, consumer electromcs, and apparel Be­
tWeen 1994 a::-:.d 2000. 3 out of every lO new job." m 1-1exICo
wert iT:' the n13quiiado:::as, which account for nearly half of
:--"kXlCO'S exports As part 0: a horder development program
~haf began m the 19605. (he Mexican gm'emmem allOwed
the duty~free lmpon of ,nz,.chmery, components, and supphes
from the lJmtcd States to be: used fo; manufacturing goods for
export back to (he United States InmaEy. all prociuus had to
be exported, but changes m the la\1/ m 1994 new allow hP leI
half of the goacis lO be sold::: Mex:co The p:ogram \1;as slo'.'i:
to develop, bur t: took off in ~he 19BOs as forclgn compac.les
realized tre:ncndous prohts from the inexpens:.ve MeXICan
labor, An autoworkcr 111 a General ~10lor5 plant in MexiCO
averages 510 a day, while: the same '.vorker m tbe Umted States
carns Llore than $2003 c!ay in wages and bcnefits
Considerable controversy surrounds thts fonn of indus­
tnahzat,oE or, both sIdes of the border Organized Jahor in
the UnHcd Stales complains that ...\'eE~ps.Y1ng mar:ufactunng
Jobs are being lost LO Iow<ost compeUtoIs, v/:UtC env'-'.ron~
mentallSts decry serious mdustnal pollutH)r: resulting from
lax government regulation. Mexicans WOri)' that these plams
are poorly mtegrated with the ::est of lhe economy and that
ms.uy of the workers are young unrnarned women who are
easily explOited. \V'-th KAFTA, forelg::l-owr.ed mz,.nu:aclUr­
mg plants are uo longer restricted to the border zon:=:_ wh:ch
!Lay resuh: in slo\\"er rates of industrializatlon for the border
towns. Fore:gn-owr:ed pla:lxs are increasingly bemg con~
structed near t:-:e popuL::.tio::l centers of Monterrey. PuebJa,
and Veracruz. Mex:can workers and fore1gn corpora;:'lD~.s,
boweve:', cor:tinue to locate in the border zone because there
are umque advant.-qges to bemg positioned next to the tJ 5
bo:der (see "Proflle of CiudadJuare:")
MeXlCO's corr,pe:mve advan~age is its locatIOn aiong the
U.S. border and membership in NAFTA, but D~her La~in
Amencan S[aleS 3re attracting foreIgn compames through tax
mcemins and low labor costs, Assembly plants in Honduras,
Guatemala, ,md El Salvador are: dra'k---:.ng fOIeign inves:ors, es­
pecally m the apparel industry. A recent repo;:t from Ei Sal­
vador danns that nm one of Its 229 apparel f3ct0Ecs has a
union. \1aking goods ;';)r American labels such as the (rap,
lr: ClaJborr:e, aEd Nike, many SalvadoraE garment \I,rorke:-s
complain [hey do not make a hvir,g wage, work 80~hour
weeks, and face mandatory pregnancy tests The SEli,3,llon In
A Figure 4.32 High-tech in Costa Rica A Costo Ricon wo
e r :ifrOps on protective clothing before entering the manufactur·
ing area of Intel's plant in Belen, nol For from the copitol city ol
Son Jose. In 2000 Costo Rico earned more foreign exchange
from exporting computer chips than it did From coffee, Its trod;.
tional export rAP/W,de World Photos)
Cos::a Rica. \\-hich
LS now a malC": Chlp manufacturer for In
and expor~ed over S2 hll:i(ill in ChIpS 111 1999, IS qune d
ierem (FIgure 4.32~ \J./]th a well-educated population, lc
cnme rare, and stah~e poll:ical scenc, COSta Rica IS now
[racting o~her h;gh-rech fifo5 Hopeful offL':lJ:ls clam: tt
Costa RiCa is ua::.sltlOning from a banana repubhc (banDf
a:ld coffec ,,;ere the cou;:-.~ry's long-standing exporrs) to a !11~
tech rnanufacLUnng cemer As a result, the Costa R~can ecc:
orey averaged 3 petce::t annual growth frot:1 1990 to 199
The Entrenched Informal Sector Ever. m prosperous S
Jose, Costa Rk.a, a ShOE drive to the urban penphcry sho
large neIghborhoods of sclf-bUlJt housmg filled wnh sm
traclers and familY-r:un workshops Such activities make
the miormal sector, the IKO\1l,SlOn of goods and serVlces W~:
our [he henefi:. government regl..l:atlo::, regj5trdrior:, or t(
alion. MOSl people in the ir:fomla~ economy are seff~employ
and receive no wages or benefi:s except ,he profns :hey de
The most common inforoal aGl\~~ties are hOUSing co::sLn
non (m many cHles ha:f of all resldents hve It: self-bUllt !101
lng\ rnanufac:uring Jr'. small \vor:rzshops, street vendu
transpor:ation services (messenger services, blcyde dellve
and collecove taxis), garbage pickmg, street performmg, a
even Lncwwa:ung (Figure 4,)3). Teese aCtlvi~H'.s are legal
mfor::nal ac~iv.ties aisn extsr: drug [raffkking, prostll
tion, and mo::ey laundering, for exa:nple Tne vast maJor
of people who are: reliam on mformal livt?lihoods prodt
legal goods and serv;,ces
No one is sure how blg this economy 15, m part becaus{
!s difficult to separate formal activitJes from infl-Jmlal OE
One e511ma[<2 :n 1998 ~howed [hat nearly 60 pe::cent of !
total non~agncultura~ employment Was iT". the informal sect
Visit Llma, Bele::n, Guatemala City, or Guayaqml and It IS e;:
0:'
PlOflle of Cmd,l(1 Juarc:
lUdad Juarez 15 big, w:th over 1 milhor. pe0pie. anci much
Clarger
~han
E Paso, Texas. H5 slster city across the border
MaquJadora-based manufacturing p:olour.dl y changec. the
look, size. and rl:}""~hrn of the cny. The factories 3:C east of rh~;
old LOV.l1, a5> are mos: of the rrnddle- and upper-class houses,
To the west, squatters have scaled 111 shamy-tov..11s that take up
[mee-fifths of tl:e cltys laEd area. Every morning blJse.s gnnd
the~r way :hrough d:e: west side of 10\\"'1:, slo\Y"lng picking \;p
facLOry workers. The mp can taKe up to an hour each way
The workers-young men and women-are neatly dressed,
Thelf ciay of labor v.,ll Cclm them anyv.'here fWIT, S5 to $ 10
Fou:1ded in 1659 as Paso cell\!one on tte [o0Gplam of
:he R!o Gra:r:de, rhe cuy was renamed in 1888 in henor of
Mexica!1 PresIdent Bem:o Juarez Yet:: is the sprawling, shab,
by r.evmess of rhe place, :md nOl its h:story. rhat impresses the
visHor, Figl1res lell only part of the Story IL is" city cf young
,
;i·
are mostly dirt, a::1d the houses are bmll of clf.der b:ocks,
adobe, a::1d plywood. Access to e.lectricity is spony, and water
is :1suaHy delIvered by trLdc The east sIde of tm\-71 1S ar.oth­
e:r world. tn between the assembly plants are (he n:cest s"Jb~
mbs, v.."th sidewalks. garages. ane neally landscaped yards
Dnve down (he cmr:mercal smp and SLOp at ~cDonalds,
Burger Kmg. or the 7 -Eleven
Most geographers find border ZOf.es intngmng cultura~
land'5capes that inVite: ,he q'Je:suon of how a line 111 the sand
can create tWO distInct faces. At. :hIs particular bend of (he
R:o Grande. there are three faces: EI Paso to tr:e north and
the dual faces of C!1Jcacijuarezs west and eas( sIdes.
workers WHh a high b:rthrate, bilt no one really knc)ws ho\v
many people jive there Est:'ma;:es for the year 2000 range
from 1.3 to 2 4 million, although mes: experts favor tI1e lower
Hgc.res. Smce the 1980s several hundred aGes of houslng
have bee.n added [0 tl1e eLLY each yea~ In the West, t~e roads
[lltel
dif­
low
(a)
that
;mas
ltgh~
::::on­
)99
San
lOWS
_:eet
p
E
, up
/:th~
tax­
)ycd
leaL
o
2m!
j
!
r---:----:
o
1
2kO'1
rue·
0US­
:mg,
very.
anc.
I. ll­
titu~
(b)
,ii,
Ii Figure 4.5.1 Ciudad Juarez The core of the city
along the Rio Grande/Bravo, while the periphery radiotes out
for severa! miles. The Induslrial zane, filled wifh moquilas, is
eo$t of downtown. [Modified from The Mexicon Border CIties
(I 993j, p. 39, by Danief Arreola and James Curtis. Tucson, AI:
UnivefSJ.ry of Arizono Press]
It. Figure 4.5.2 Elite and shanty housing in Ciudad
Juarez (01 The majority of Ihe city's newcomers reside in
self·built homes like these on the urbon periphery, rbJ In can·
trast, smoll elile suburbs ore interspersed with assembly plonfs
on the east side of the CIty.
(Pho(;)s by Rob CrandoN/Rob
Crandall" Photographer)
)nty
iuee
,se it
Ines
f the
ctor.
easy
to get [he. :rnpresslOn that the informa: econcmy is the econ­
omy. From self-help housmg that dominates the landscape to
hundleds of street vendors that crowd the sJdc\.\'alks, it 15 im­
possible w aVOid. There are advantages m the mfonnal scc­
tor--hours are flexible, chi~dren can work w1th their parents,
and [here are no bosses, Peruvian econom:s.t Helnando de
Soto even arg'Jes that thIS most dYT.amic sector of the. econ­
omy should be cncot:raged and offered formallmes of cred­
It. As i!!lponanr as this sector g:ay be, however, widespread
ce.pendence on it signals LatlH Amenca's poverty, r:ot Its
165
166 CHAPTER 4 Latin America
,
i
sugar The speed wilh which the p~ajns \\-ere conyertea i<lto
held;; alamled env~ronmentahs(s~ Throllghm~[ rh~ 19905, ef-;
~
forts to conserve sorr:e of rhe ec()sys:em mcreaseci.
Stmllar large~scale agricultural frontlers extst along the ~
pJecimOLl zone of the \'enezuelan llanos (mnstly grains) and:
lhe Pacihc siope of Central Alllcrica (couon an~ some tropi_ ,~
cal f:uits) In nor~hern Mexico water supplied from c!aU1S :
along the Siena Madre Occidental has turned the valleys in :
Sma~0a imo ,ntens:ve producers of fnnts and vegetables for i
consumers in the Umted States The telall-':~elr m;id v.'iraers 10 ]
northern Mexico allm" growers to pmJucc ~~owbeTT:es Jnd
torraroes d'J;ing t:1C \\~nHeT momhs~
J
In each of these cases, the agncJ.ltu:-al se::-:Wr 15 capital- J
In::cr:slve am~ dYTlam:c_ By using maLhi~ery, bgh-yteldinghy,
bnds_ chemICal fernh::ers~ .and pesuCldes. many corporate
farm;, a:e extremely- produclive and ptorltab~e~ \\7hat tl:ese op. .­
crat:ons fa:l10 do 15 employ m,n:y rclral people, w[,lCh:s es- ~!
pecia\ly problen:aric ir.. CQumnes- ',yhere a :hnd or more or [he 1
;)opdatloIJ depc:1ci:, on agncul~u::-c [or )[S llve:ihood As m­
d~c.:str:aL:::ed agnculmre ':,eco:nes the norm in Latin Arner.ca,
SUbS15!CnCe peasant prcducers are fu::-ther margi:::;ah;::ed~ The
overal~ lrend 1S that agriculru!ai productlO::' is Hlcn.:asmg whl!e
~Jro~Jor~lOnany lewe: people- are emp!oyed by it In Pem
45 percent of r::e male Labor force worked m agriculture m
198(\ by 1998 rhe hgure had plummered to just "1 percent in
absoLUlc terms, however, the numbe:- of people irving m rural
areas is about Lhe same a~ 1I was m 1960 (roughly 130 ITlllhon)
The major difference Qve:- tile last 4(\ yea:-s l5 that many of
Lhese people are wmse off as trad.l[ienaJ CHat s"Jpporr net~
works break dO\\Tl ar:d small farmers ate f0rced onto margin­
ai lallds that arc vulnerable to drought and eroS:OT1_ Peasant
farmers '\d:o are abie to produce a surplt:s of com or whe_at see
tis vaiue ur.dercLlt by cheaper imported grams"
1
i
.. Figure 4.33 Peruvian street vendors
A street vendor seil­
ing produce in Huoncayo, Peru. Street vending plays 0 critical
role in Ihe distribution of goods ond the generotion of income.
Controry to popular opinion, it is often regulated by dty govern­
ments. and by the vendors_ them5elves (Rob Crandali/Rob emn,
doli, Photogropher)
weaith, ]l reflects the inabihty of the formal eCOllort:les of the
region, espeCIally in bduslry, to absorb 12bOL For millIOns of
urban dwellers, rhe lhougr.t of fintimg formal employ;:nen:
that offers benefu$, safety, and a hvmg wage is SlLtl a dream
\\'lth :1m\:here t:1se to go. the Ianks of the l:1[o::-n:ally elr.~
played contmue to grow
Primary Export Dependency
'it- H:stoncan}~
Latin Amenca's abundant nawral resources were
1
:ts weaith. ~n [he ccionial pCD()d slivC:L gold, and sugar gen~
crated tremendous nd:es rOi the coiomsLS \\'nh i:1de?en~
dence m the nineteenth century, a series of export booms "'- Mining and Forestry The explottalinn of sJVet, orne, cop­
m:roduccd commocHies such as banana~> coffee, cacao, '/" per, non Ole, bauXJ:e, gold ~ 011, aud gas 1S r:-:e econor.uc main­
grams, tlIl, rubber-, copper, wool, J:1d perroieum to a:-:: ex­
Stay for many cou;1tne$ 10 the region, The (lii~nch nario;:.s of
pandir>-g world ffiiirkcL O,-1C ot the legaCIes of tbs exporL~led
Venezuela, MexlCo. and EeG.ador are. able to meet :he1r ovm
development was a tendency ro specialize in O:'.C O~ two tna]C'I
cOiTIffiodit:cs, a pattern due conanued mro the 1950s. Dur­
ing tha: decade Costa Rica earned 90 perccnL of IrS expon
eicT;.mgs from banallas and coffee, NlCaragua earae-d 70 per­
(ent. from coffee and couon; 85 percent of Chilean e.xport m­
come C31:tC from copper; half o!' Uruguay's exporL i:1come
came from wood. Even BraZil generated 60 percent of us ex­
port earnings from coffee in 1955, by 1998 coffee accounted
fOT less rhan 5 percent uf tr.e countrys exports. yet Brazl! rf~
mamed the world leader in coffee prodllCtlOn~
~ Agricultural
Production Smce the 19605, the r:end m La":'
"It Amenca has beer: to dlversi:y and
ro mechanize agrlu.:1t'J.re
t.;t1where is [his mote ev:;dem than in the Plata Basin, WhK["
l::1cludes sourhern Branl, Uruguay ::1ord:em Argennna,
Parag~lay, and eastern Bohvia. Soybeans, used for oii anc aTI­
~mai feed, t,ansformed these lowlands In the} 980s and eady
19905 Added ~o tbs are acres of rice cotron_ and otange
groves, as well as the ClOre tradir:onal plantmgs of wheat and
fuel :leeds and to earn v;tal state revenues from oil exports~
\ enezL:ela :5 mOSf dependcm en revcnue-s from on, eammg up
to 90 pere-em of Its foreign excha!1ge from crude petroleum
and per~oleum prDduc(s in 1998 \'e::1ezuela also exported
tnore 011 to the lJmted States thaI: any other COUnTy, mdud·
mg 011-ncI-: SaudI A:-abia (Figure 434) Vast 011 reserves also
eXlst m (he UU:10S of Colomha, yet a cost~j-' and vulnerable
ptpe!me l:-:at CO:'l.r:e(ts the 0:1 heids- (Q lr:e coast is a regular tJr­
gel 0:" guellLHa groU?S~ By the late] 9905 Colombian 011 pro~
duclloE had unproved, but!t is far from reliable
:'.ike agIlculture, mLDlrtg has become raOfe med:a.mzed
and less labor mtensl ve Even BOiJ'V13, a cOlmtry dependent on
tin productwn, cut 70 percent cf its rr:mcrs frem state payrolL."
m the J 990$, Tr,e measure was part of a broad, based ;l:Jster­
if;; program, yet II suggests lha~ the majority of the mmers
wae n:)t needed Snmhnly, the vaST coppa mmes of nonh­
err;, Chile are producing record amounts of copper wirh fewe:­
miners Gold mmmg, m contrast, connnues to be labor in"
:enslve, offenng employment for thous:.mds of prospecwrs~
Economic and Social Development
167
mto
s, ef­
~ the
land
roPl­
lams
ys m
::, for
'rs m
. and
mal­
shy­
)rate
, op­
s es­
,[ the
s m­
'.[lea,
The
vhHe
Peru
re m
1t.
In
rural
lOn;
lyof
net­
rgm­
15am
it see
cop­
Jam­
ns of
own
Ions
tgup
leum
)ned
:lud­
~ also
rable
r rar­
pro­
tized
on
noEs
(ster­
mers
Jrth­
ewer
Ir m­
"tors
Jt
• Figure 4.34 Oil production
A portable drilling platform
on Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. Oil production accelerated the
pace of development far countries like Venezuela, Mexico, and
Ecuador, but these economies struggled in the 1990s as oil
prices declined. (Rob Crandall/Rob Crandall, Photographer)
Gold rushes are occurrmg in remote troplCal regions of
VenGuela, Bra:il, Colombia, and Costa Rica, The famous
Serra Pelada mine in Bra:il, an anthlll of '\vorkers with ladders,
shovels, and butlap sacks fllled WIth gold-bearmg soll, IS the
most dtamatic example of labor-intenslve mining (figure
4.35\ Generally, gold miners rend IO work in small groups.
Moreover, many gold stnkes occur illegally on Indian lands
or within the borders of national parks (as m the case of Costa
Rica). Invariably, if a large enough stnke occurs, the state steps
in to regulate mining operatlOns and ro gct Its share of the
proHts
Logging is another important, and conrroversial, extrac­
tive actlvit;r lromcally, many of the forest areas cleared for
cattle were nor systemancally harvesred. More often than not.
all but the most valuable trees were burued. Logging conces­
sions are commonly awarded to domestic and foreign nmber
companies, which export boards and wood pulp. These one­
time arrangements are seen as a quick means for foreign ex­
change, particularly if prized hardwoods like mahogany are
found, Logging can mean a short-tenn infUSIOn of cash into
a local economy In 1995, $31 million in forest producls was
exported from the Bolivian state of Santa Cruz (a relative new­
comer to the uopical hardwood market). Yet rarely do long­
term conservatlon strategies exist, making this system of
extraction unsustainable, There is growing interest in cernh­
cation programs that designate when a wood product has
been produced sustainably. ThIS is due ro consumer demand
for cenihed wood, mosrly in Europe. Unfortunately, such pro­
grams are small and the lure of profir usually overwhelms the
impulse to conserve for future generations
Several countries rely on plamalion forests of imroduced
species of pmes, teak, and eucalyprus ro supply domestic fuel­
wood, pulp, and board lumbeL These plantation forests grow
single species and fall far shon of the complex ecosystems
OCcurring in narural forests, Stilt, growing trees for paper or
fuel reduces rhe pressure on orher foresred areas, Leaders m
A Figure 4.35 Amazonian gold Serra Pelado, in the Brazil­
ian slate of Paro, is one of the most productive gold mines in
Latin America
(peler Frey/Getty Images, Inc.)
plantation forestry ate Btazil, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentl­
na. Considcred Latin Amenca's economlC star in the 1990::;
Chllc relied on amber and wood chlps to boost ItS export
earnings. Thousands of hectares of exotics (eucalyptus and
pine) have bcen planted, systematIcally hatvested, cut into
boards, or chIpped for wood pulp (see FIgure 4.61. Japanese
capltalls heavily involved in thIS sector of rhe Chilean ecoo­
omy. The recent expansion of the wood chip business, how­
ever. led to a dramatic increase in the loggmg of native forests.
By 1992, more than half of all \O\'ood chIps were from native
speCIes
j
Latin America in the Global Economy
r In order to conceptualize Latin Americas place
m the world
economy, dependency theory was advanced in the 1960s by
scholars from the region, The premise of the theory is that
expansion of European capitalism created the region's un­
derdevelopment. For the developed "cores" of the world lO
prosper, the "peripheries" became dependent and Impover­
Ished, Dependent economies, as those m Latin America, wete
export-onented and vulnerable to fluctuations in the global
market. Even when they experienced economic growth, It
was subordinate to the economlC demands of the core (North
America and Europe)
Economisrs who embraced this mterpretation of Lann
Amenca's hiStory were convinced rhat economic development
could occur only through self-sufficiency, growth of mternal
markets, agranan reform, and greater income equality. [n
short, they argued for vigorous srate intervention and an un­
coupling from the economic cores Policles such as import
168 CHAPTER 4
latin America
Sub5titu:10n indusuialization, and nationah:ation
u: key tn·
dU5trli:'S were par:ial1y infhlence:d by :hlS VLeW, Dependency
theory has its dCl::actors In :lS sioplest form it becomes a
means to blame forces externa; to La~i!1 Amenca for the re­
glOn's problems Implicit In dependency tncor;: is als<J tr:.e no­
tion :hat tr:e path to develQpmem taken by Europe and North
Amenca cannot be e3si:y repllcated_ This was a radical idea
ro~
Its lirr;c
A look at trade.?n the \Vestern Hemrsphere fCycals both m­
creased mtegranon wuh:n L2t:n Amenca as \vcll as the dom­
inanee of the Sonh An:er:ca:1 market (Hbure 4.36), In terms
of regIOnal :ntegratton, lhe emergence of ~1erco5ur In 1991
.:.tlITlulated nev;,leyels of
~nide,
e.speCJaHy b£tv,-ee;J Brazll .]:;;d
Argentina. The success -of Mercosur, aiong Wllh the expansion
of ~rilde Wllbn lhe Andean Cor:-tmunJty. ::e5uhed in a 16 per~
cem incre3.se in H1trareglOnal trade in Laun Amer:ca dur;ng
[he 1990s, Even \\-:th this lD,,'ff:asc, the level of m!:-aregional
trade. among tbe ~krcosu; countries \513 3 billion) is a snaH
traction of the :r:tmrcglOnal :\AFTA trade ($700 biU:on), As
show":": in Flgure 4,36, tr.e level of imraregi('1nal trade wlthm
i-,1ercosur. Central America, or the Andean Commun:r)' is
much less lhan f3ch group's trade 'lA1(h ~orth Ame-:ica, \Vhat
t1:H:se data do nol show is the d:sproportlOnale O\..)W of expons
to tr:.e UnIted StaLes In thl?' late 1990$, over BO perce::u of all
dI
Mexican expor:~ and roughly 40 percent of 31: lean and Andean exports '''"ere bound to [he' llnited ccmpar:soll, only] ') percent of the total Merc0sur trade . iO the Cnited States (Mercosur COU:1tnes have m,'n"w''''' ly more trade \\-'ith Europe a~d ASl3.! Ge.r.eraUy, m imraregional trade lS undely recogmztd as a l,'V''''''CSiI!t grcaler eC\)nOrnlC indepe~dence for Latin A:nertca less, the }llstonc pattern of dependence on North i\rnc11Cll! as the Umted Suites C'dr.:inues to be the major partner for mos[ states in the reglOn From a U.S perspecnve. the FTAA agreerr.em WQuld
forrr:ahze an esu.bhshe(! paltern of trade. Not all Latin
ca::.s see It lhat way. Brazlhan Presldem Fern.mdo
speaKs eloquently of the asymmetries ot giobalization and
they l1!lpact BraZil The :u:anctal crises ill As13 and hU,",U' 1ll0l
];:uc 19905 caused a dra:-:llC red~ctlon in Lhe at:lount of
foreign mVe5tIlJent in Lann America_ This 1;1 tum. caused
to devalue us currency in ] 999. Devaluatio~ res'Jlted in
er B::--JZllian prociuelS, wllJcr: caased trade mstability \Yith
t~XisLS
of BraZl;S 1\,fercosur par~r,ers> Argentina. Thls worsened
gen!ina's already unstable. econon:y, ar:d m the s'JJ:uner of
ArgemiEa was forced to refinance its debl. \Vithom
changes. arg'Jes Cardoso, the FTAA agreement would be
example "protectwmsn: of the fiLlest Free trade in the
TI
II> Figure 4.36 GJobaJlinkages: hemispheric trade latin American trade hm well-eslablished links with North America and Europe, In the past Iwo decades, introregiono) trade hos surged. Many c:edit fhe growth
in introregional trade to the ~tJc(ess of MerCOSl)f and
NAFTA. (Source: The Eco.'lomisl, April 21,2001)
Olrr
HEMISPHERIC TRAOE
2000, $bn~
_
Caribbean Community
_
Central American Common Market
_
Anooan Group
C=::
Mercosur and Associates
c:::J
NAFTA
I ~~ Intraregionallrade'
$1 3
Interregional trade flows'
• Preliminary e$limates
750
1,SOOm!
!
1
150 1,500 km
I
,
Economic and Social Development
\rnC't_
es. By
Went
tonal_
: tease
19haf
,,,he·
a still
adlr.g
[only
Jnen·
rdoso
I
11l1:1C
dnect
Br",il
heap.
hone
dAr·
2001
naJo:­
be a:i
i.mer~
,_~_wlU,acidlti()nsI5(lf~:ry net~may
ha-...:c the po:c-::la] tco al­
both eConOTTJC and $L"C:3l d('ve~oprnel1l in the (-,emi­
51"""" which tS what 115 s:lpporter.s- o;gue Yel the sta.unches!
of FTA-\ see E as a new tOffil ofC5 lmper.2lism
"Geog.raphy In the ~1::tkmg: Argentil:a Is Bust")
Neoliberalism as Globalization By ,he 1990, govemments
as J 5(:.11e
s
GEOGRAPHY IN THE MAKING
t
DoHarization
A:-, fmancial G:':-CS spread thro:lgh LaLln
~\rnei"Ka m the late .. 990~, govcrmnems began (0 ('nSlde:- the
economic benchr<; of dollarization, a process by WhlCh a
country adopts-m \vhcle or m iXUl-'-lr:e U S. do]ar as it.S
"Argentina Is Bust"
was ohvious that Argennnas eeoEemy was ;;-:: penl by 1999
at~ernpts were made LO restructure loans. ::':'1: ~he in·
c\-,rahle cC'llapse carr:e in carly 2(102 w:~en Argenuna defaulted
on us $15'5 blHlOn pubLe debt, the largest ~u('h de:a"dl by
any coumry':n history. At the same. t:rae. the Arger:tme peso
was ;'ir.coupled from HS one---r(l~one e..xchaiige rdre wi:h the
L: S dollar trigg.enng a paiaful devabatlOn rha( squeezec.
many !11iddle class workers be.lcw the pover:y hne Cnem­
pJoymcnt s11iged to more than 18 percent. The econ(1!lllC cn·
sis tnggered a pO:llIcaI Gis::;, bringing down the :::Hesidcn::y
of Fernando de lJ Rua ill Decerr.ber 200] As the world
wdt.:heci, the Arger:nnc legislature nommatcd varIOUS IT;.ter~
im presidents, klally se1eCT~ng Eduadro DuhaJde to leac. the
C0untry unu~ elections could be held in 2003_ In a speech to
the Cong:ess thal selected hun on January 1, 2002. PresIdent
Ddu:de deda::ed, "Argennna lS bust)
The sruTImng descent of Argentina is. rerr.arkable CO::1­
sldcf1::1g ~ha;: JUS'.. a few years ea::licr If was heralded as J
r:Jodel [or free-I:13.rket, neo~:iberal reform. Berweer,
1991-1997, Argc:1tinJ.'s eC0:10illy~:~e thud ~argesL m Lann
Al1!fTica-grew at an average ar~nual rare of 6.19:. rhe high~
es~ Hi. La:m Ameaca. Argentmes were the wealthiest latlll
A!11encans m 1999 wnh a GNI of $7,55C pe:: capEa. \Xhth
devaluatic-:l 1:':1 2002 the G~l per cap:la plum:uued to an
esnmatt.d $3 500
t
ISeveral
Om! :
the regwns. health·,e5t. In 1995 aJone :he. Chilean f'COn0n:y
gtev.-' lO 4 peteen:. placing H in the same
as the Asian
ugets. Consequently. it is :he most studIed ar:d \\'atched coun­
try In Larm AmericJ. By the :"Curabe.rs. ChUe's I SA mtlLon
p<:oplc are d()mg welL b";Jt the c(ounr:--~(s accomplishments arc
not readily :taru{\:rab:e. To beg~n wnh. the tadiol mOve to
r!Uvatlzc state-cw:::\i:~d busmtss and (y?cn the econotn~· oc­
curred u!"ldc[ an Oppre55',VC rmhtary dictatcrshrp that dId nor
Ll..lic:rale npposlllon -':ha:lkfulh: such dinatDrshlps are rare li'l
LatlU An~enca LOc.av, but m a democracy the. pace of teform
must be. slowet. Much of Chiles ex?ort-Iec. growth has been
bJ.sed on pimary p:oducts: fr"::'lts, seafood, copper, and \-I,'ood
.-\hhoug:: many of th,:se arc renewable., Chlle y,,>:li need !O de­
velop more value-added good5= If it hopes to be labeled "de­
ve~0ped." F.lnherrr:orc, its :;e~a:rvely srr:,aE and homogenem:s
populau;)11 m a tes()urn>rich lane. e.ces not have the same
e:h::ic dlYis:ons tha, hl:-,der so many states m Latin iune.nca
Ex-perintents m r,eohberahsrr. are suI: new, sa all the social
and e::-':viwnmemal costs as-soGared With ~his eConom~c free­
for-all are not l:uown
and the '\Yorld Bank had 'Qecc:ne cha~1ploE5 c[ r:eohberahsm
palh to e..::onOffilC development. Neoliberal policies
stress privat'..:suoD, export r:\1ducuon, dueet fONtgn ll"lVest·
went, and fe,\, ~-estnct10ns on nnporrs. nley cplhm,-lZe the
forces of globah::auon by :urrnng av:ay fro:n pOilClCS that ern­
ph2size s:ate ll1tcrv::r::t1on and sell~su:hClcncy \'lost :.aan
lunencan political leadets a:-e cmr,a:':'ing ncohbcral16m and
the benefits t::at comf wnh it . .;:uch as mC;:eased rude and
more favorable tt.:trllS k.r debt repa)TTnent Yet ~herc arc Signs
of discontent wllh ucohbGahsm th::-cmghc·ut [he rtgion. The
usually tra:iqUlI CIty c,f Forto A:eg:-e, Bra::::l hosLed the \A'!o:'ld
Sonai Forum 1!l 2001 as an a:,-tlglohah~anon (;o'.mterpOE:t h)
the \Vorld Economic Forum's meet~ng In Swit.::.etla::-ld. Th~5
lef::s~ mternatlona-I forum staged :allies denoundn ncol18cr"
ahsm and the FI".~ and 3Jvocarlng redlKnon of pover:y and
inequality ;is La:m Amen.:_a:s tcp ?fionttcs
Chile i;:, an (iu,?~oken c:-:ampion of ncnhberahsm. Its
growr:: !"ate beLween 1990 and 1;199 averaged 5.b percenL
169
!:')urmg the 19905 mOSl Ulihtles were pnvariz.ed, and pn­
pc-ured lI:to the (,Ninny At this Urr:e the Argen~
nne CilJTef'3'::Y board was C:i:ea:ed, whKh pegged ::::'e
:0 :he
C 5 dollar and for a tm:e secured hscal stlb:lty
piobletn
WIth th:s smuegy was thal as t::e dolldr rose iii value corr.·
pared to o~heT currenCles b the 1990::. so did the peso. P,y the
late L990s ~~rgenur;.e eXpOrts weTe Jess competitive, ar:d thlS
:1e~ati\rely impacted e.mploymeEL ArgeE~mes 1.~5ed then over~
valued (l.m·ency to become major i!11portE"rs, leadmg 10 a trade
~mhaLmce, e.speclJIy with Brazi! \Vith economic rum ill sight
those who hac capual moved H abroad In. 2002. tbe state
teed to SIerr. capnal flight by lmposmg a $1,000 a month
wnhd:::awal bmit on all bar:k a~cour::s. All payme:u and ?!"lC­
mg SYSltm.::i q'Jickly became c::'actlc- Cor:qames could not
pay lnterr_anonal supphers ::'ec:ause aCCounts were parriallv
frozET.. Imports, from bXlTf jtems to prescnpt10n dmg,:c, were
nearly impossible to get In the fIrst ha-;f of 2002
Some PO-;l:-'.ctans biarr._c rhe HvlF for lmposi!'.g neo-liberal
pcb::ll.;s ar:e. mSiSllf1.g 0:1 pnvatc:anon and open markets. Oth­
e.rs bial1:e the Lgidiry of the currency ::'oard and It'3 inabiitLY to
respond to ex:ernal sh()cks in the global eco:1omy SnU others
pomt to dt(~mra!:zed stare governmen;:s that overspem ar:d an
ineffective national tax collf:.cti0c system \Vhl:e schoiars and
policyruaker;: debate :he. !"easons for (h15 default, rhe results have
been devastanng for L.aurt Alnericas taosr developed country:
Vale c."ipHa~