Latin America in the 20 th Century

Latin America in the 20 th Century Neocolonialism Latin America’s big problem in the era following independence was its shortage of capital and general impoverishment This meant the region had to rely on foreign capital to fuel economic growth and prosperity This helped foreign investors to dominate the economies of many Latin American countries Both as the source of new capital and customers for Latin American exports Economic investments gave the U.S. in particular an incentive to intervene politically and militarily in the internal affairs of Latin American countries A cynical view of neocolonialism

Latin America in the 20 th Century Neocolonialism and Economic Development Lopsided development Foreign investment tended to encourage development aimed at servicing international markets Hence, many economies in Latin America came to revolve around the production of one or two commodities Examples: sugar in Cuba, nitrates and copper in Chile, coffee in Brazil Concentration of Land Ownership The production of commodities for export encouraged the concentration of land ownership Governments passed laws that essentially allowed wealthy to seize the land of poor peasants if it was to be used for export production Mexico: 1883 and 1894 laws Workers loading bananas into a railroad freight car in Guatemala

Latin America in the 20 th Century U.S. Imperialism – Early 20 th Century Spanish-American War (1898) U.S. forces pushed the Spanish out of Cuba and then turned Cuba into an informal American protectorate Platt Amendment (1902) Panama Canal (1903) U.S. wanted to build transithmus canal in Panama When Colombian Senate refused to accept treaty, TR fomented revolt in Panama and guaranteed its success with U.S. military forces Roosevelt Corollary (1904) TR asserted U.S. right to intervene in Latin American countries to insure their independence Dollar Diplomacy Disliking military force, TR’s successor, Pres. Taft used private U.S. credit as source of leverage Cartoon satirizing Teddy Roosevelt’s heavy-handed treatment of Latin America

Latin America in the 20 th Century Mexican Revolution: The Limit of U.S. Influence In 1910, opposition forces ovethrew Mexico’s longtime caudillo, Porfirio Diaz He was replaced by an elected president, Francisco Madero, who soon was himself overthrown by Gen. Victoriano Huerta Venustiano Carranza led a revolt against Huerta in the name of constitutional government U.S. intervention The U.S. favored Carranza over Huerta Used an incident with U.S. sailors in 1914 in Tampico to seize Veracruz to try and starve Huerta of revenue Carranza distanced himself from U.S. support Punitive Expedition of against Pancho Villa in , a failure DiazMadero Huerta Carranza Villa

Latin America in the 20 th Century Later U.S. Policy Good Neighbor Policy While not abandoning U.S. efforts to influence its Latin American neighbors, FDR rejected military intervention as a tool of U.S. power This did not stop FDR from supporting repressive pro-U.S. regimes and his successors from resuming more aggressive interventions U.S. used the CIA to overthrow Latin American leaders in Guatemala (1954) and Chile (1973) Failed to overthrow Castro in Cuba and the Sandanistas in Nicaragua U.S. troops sent into the Dominican Republic (1966), Panama (1989) and Haiti (1994) Alliance for Progress Cartoon extolling FDR’s “Good Neighbor Policy” Jacobo Arbenz Guzman Salvador Allende

Latin America in the 20 th Century Resistance Movements Another important theme of 20 th century Latin American history is resistance movements to repressive regimes Movements often centered in indigenous and rural populations Some of these movements successful, others not U.S. attitude generally hostile to them, because of their leftist, pro- Communist leanings Examples” Nicaragua: Sandinistas Peru: Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Mexico: Zapatistas Most countries in Latin America have some sort of indigenous anti- government guerilla movement FARC troops in Colombia Che Guevara