LATIN AMERICA, THE UNITED
STATES, AND THE WORLD
AK
24-2
SETTING THE SCENE
• “The duty of every revolutionary is to make
revolution.” –Fidel Castro, Cuban dictator (1962)
• Communism was an ever growing threat during the
Cold War
• Latin America and the United States’ policy was heavily
influenced by communism
COMMUNISM IN CUBA
• Cuba won independence from Spain
• After Spanish-American war
• Platt Amendment
• U.S. controlled Cuba until 1935
• Cuba’s sugar was very valuable to the U.S.
• U.S. bought many Cuban plantations and mills
• Supported military dictators
CASTRO
• 1959-Fidel Castro led a tiny guerrilla army to victory
• This army was opposed to the Batista regime
• Castro turned Cuba into a communist state
• Nationalized foreign-owned sugar plantations and
other businesses
• Land was put under Gov. control and distributed to
peasant farmers
• 1960s• Gave health care to everyone
• Promoted equality for women
• Increased nation’s literacy rate
• Communist dictatorship angered middle-class
Cubans
• Critics were thrown in jail
• Hundreds of thousands fled to the U.S.
COLD WAR TENSIONS
• Cuban Revolution surprised the U.S. especially
when Castro turned to the Soviet Union for
help
• Bay of Pigs, 1961- United Sates backed AntiCastro exiles in a plan to over throw Castro
• 1962- U.S. imposed an embargo on Cuba
after the over throwing failed
• Castro let Soviets build nuclear missile bases in
Cuba (Just 90 miles away from Florida)
• This outraged the U.S. and sparked a
dangerous crisis
COLD WAR TENSIONS
• 1962-President John Kennedy declared naval blockade
of Cuba
• Soviets were given the order to remove their weapons
• Known as the Cuban Missile Crisis- superpowers were on
the brink of a nuclear war
• Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, eventually backed
down and removed the missiles from Cuba
• Over the next decades, Castro encouraged a
revolution in other Latin American nations
• Sent troops to Africa to help Angola’s Socialist Gov.
• Soviets provided economic and military aid to Cuba
while the U.S. continued efforts to isolate Cuba and
remove Castro
RECENT TRENDS
• Cuba lost their main ally and trading partner in
the early 1990’s due to the collapse of the Soviet
Union
• Cuba’s economy suffered without their help
• In return to a ruined economy, Castro
encouraged tourism, a market economy, and
foreign investment
• However, he remained loyal to his belief and
preservation of communism
• Even though the United Nations and Latin
America claimed that Cuba wasn’t a threat
anymore, the U.S. refused to negotiate with
them
THE UNITED STATE AND LATIN
AMERICA
• U.S. was influenced by smaller neighboring states
• Latin America relied on the U.S. for trades and
investments
• The U.S.’s profits flowed from Latin America to the north
• But cultural influences drifted both north and south
• U.S. saw themselves as a defender of democracy and
capitalism and the source of humanitarian aid
VIDEO!!!!!
Now a word from the best
President in the U.S. ;)
INTERVENTION
• The U.S. repeatedly interceded in Latin America
• This was to prevent the spread of communism
• They backed anti-communist dictators and trained
their soldiers to fight rebel rebellions
• They even helped defeat leftist leaders
• 1954-U.S. helped Guatemalan soldiers overthrow
Jacobo Arbenz, the Guatemalan president
• Arbenz had enacted land reforms that threatened U.S.
businesses
• 1973- Richard Nixon lent its support to a Chile to
overthrow the socialist president, Salvador Allende
INTERVENTIONS
• 1989- U.S. forces invaded Panama and put an end
to the government of General Manuel Noriega
• Noriega was tried, convicted, and imprisoned for drug
trafficking
• 1990- U.S. used economic pressure to remove
military rulers from power in Haiti
• The U.S.’ economic and military interventions were
opposed by various Latin Americans
• Their political, economic, and cultural influence was
often disliked
REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
• Despite differences, Latin America and the U.S. still worked
together
• OAS (Organization of American States) was formed in 1948
• Promoted democracy, economic cooperation, and human rights
• U.S. often dominated the OAS, but the Latin Americans did pursue
and independent line at times
• Alliance for Progress in 1961- Castro revolution and multiple
Cold War tensions led President Kennedy to start this program
• Offered billions in loans and investments
• In return, Latin American Gov. were to pass genuine reforms to
promote education, land reform, reduce inequality and poverty,
weaken dictatorships, and help countries avoid revolutions
• However, this did not result in positive progress
• The U.S. provided aid to Latin America, but not to the extent of Kennedy’s
proposal
REGIONAL AND GLOBAL ISSUES
• Latin American had reduced their
dependence on the U.S. By the end of the
Cold War, but remained a key trading partners
• They were tied to the global economy
• Venezuela was rich in oil and joined Arab nations in
OPEC. While Brazil worked with Africa in exporting
coffee
• Food or minerals were often exported to Asian nations
as trade and cultural links were formed
• Japanese investments in Brazil especially rose rapidly
REGIONAL TIES
• 1990s- Regional trading became important
• Trade barriers were lowered among neighboring
countries to create larger markets
• 1993- Mexico linked economies with the U.S. and
Canada through NAFTA
• 1995-Mercosur, a new South American trading
block increased trade
• In Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
• The hope was to create a hemisphere-wide-free-trade
zone would expand European Union
THE DRUG WARS
• Indian in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia grew cocaine
for their own uses
• Drug cartels began producing and exporting huge
quantities
• 1970s- drug lords were rolling in the profit
• used this money to bribe Government officials
• Hired assassins to kill the people that spoke out against them
• 1980s- U.S. declared a “war on drugs”
• Pressed governments in Colombia, Peru, etc. to destroy cocaine
crops
• Many Latin Americans argued that the real problem was the ever
growing demand for illegal drugs, and not the supply of drugs
DEVELOPMENT VERSUS THE
ENVIRONMENT
• Nations said that in order to have economic growth,
land needed to be exploited
• Most widely publicized issue was the destruction of the
Amazon Rain Forest
• Occupies more than a million acres in Brazil
• During the 1970-80s the forest was being turned into
land for farms, cattle ranches, highways, and cities
• Environmentalists said that this had enormous costs
• Called it “The lungs of the world”
• Said that rapid development would cause problems for
native peoples
• Native American forest dwellers were angered
MIGRATION
• 1970s- Latin American immigration increased
• Many people moved to the U.S. to get away from
poverty, civil war, and repressive gov.
• 2000s- Latin Americans were the largest
immigrant group to the U.S.
• Many entered legally and became citizens,
However, many also entered unlawfully, Illegal
Immigrants
• After 9/11, the U.S. moved to strengthen border
controls
IDENTIFY
• Bay of Pigs-
• 1961- United Sates backed Anti-Castro exiles in a plan to over
throw Castro
• Cuban Missile Crisis-
• Cuba and U.S. were on the brink of a nuclear war
• OAS-
• Organization of United States
• Promoted democracy, economic cooperation, and human rights
• NAFTA-
• North American Free Trade Association
• Alliance for Progress -
• Castro revolution and multiple Cold War tensions led President
Kennedy to start this program in 1961
• Drug Cartel-
• Criminal gangs that sold drugs and used the large profit to
bribe Gov. officials
IDENTIFY
• Fidel Castro- Cuban Dictator
• Manuel Noriega- General in Panama that was hung
for drug trafficking
• Mercosur- a new South American trading block
• Embargo-ban on trade
• Literacy rate- percentage of population that can
read and write