1. Economics & Trade in Latin America
Also see this in chapter 10, section 1

2. Sharp divisions between poor & rich (wealth gap)
Why?
Political, social and economic factors
Physical geography

3. Agriculture
¾ people live in cities, but still rely on agriculture through exports, or the selling of farm products (bananas, sugarcane, coffee) to other countries
Farmland unevenly distributed: small group vs. large group
Rural farmers: campesinos (large group)
Latifundia
Minifundia
Large estates
Owned by large corporations, wealthy families (small group)
Commercial, mechanized
High returns for low investment in labor
Small plots of land
Owned by campesinos (rural, larger group)
Intensely farmed, not mechanized
Rarely owned by themselves, usually owned by wealthy landowners or government

4. Agriculture System of latifundia, minifundia breaking down Why?
People migrating to cities as latifundia becoming more mechanized
Government: distributing lands more fairly
Formation of co-ops (combine minifundia)
Physical Geo cash crops
Cash crops: crops produced in large quantities to be sold/traded
Most grown on latifundia; benefit corporations
Coffee, bananas, sugarcane
Other countries raise cattle for export
Risks of just a few exports
Droughts, floods, volcanic eruptions
Example: Honduras (90% banana crop destroyed with Hurricane Mitch in 1998)

5. Industry
Most countries = developing countries, lack technology & development
Physical geography (rainforests, Andes)
Limited growth of industry
Political instability
How to overcome barriers: develop service industries (provide services, not necessarily specific goods)
Mexico: motor vehicles, processed foods
Brazil: iron, steel, cars, airplanes
 expanding trade  stronger economies! 

6. Tourism: Pros & Cons
Advantages:
Income
Create jobs
Cruise ships anchor in port
Hotels, restaurants, etc have opened
Narrows the gap between the rich and poor
Disadvantages:
Congestion occurs
Pollution increases
Govts. Can run up debt building tourist attractions
Owners may not live in country
Tourism is a growth industry throughout Latin America

7. Maquiladoras
Definition: manufacturing plants along the Mexico- US border
American, Japanese firms have built these plants in the last 50 years
Both countries = industrialized, top builders (especially in ‘50s, US occupation in Japan)
Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana
Employs many Mexicans
Why?
Benefit US & Japanese corporations: allows them to hire low-cost labor & to produce duty-free exports
Offers country & people employment opportunities, investment income
Critics: damages environment, encourages low- paying & dangerous jobs, ignores labor & environmental laws

8. Trade & Eco North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
1992
Mexico, US & Canada
Reduced trade restrictions, increased flow of goods, services & people among countries
After NAFTA: trade between countries increased 10-15% annually
Viewpoints on NAFTA
Americans fear loss of jobs to lower-paid Mexican workers
Mexico: NAFTA has helped us boost exports & create 1,000s of new jobs
Other countries seeing if NAFTA works
Foreign debt
Had to borrow from other countries to finance industrial development, threatened to default & had time lengthened to repay loans
 more debt  halt of needed programs in countries

9. Transportation Building roads, etc. difficult
Not enough money to build projects through mountains, rainforests, deserts
Still have some good roads, though!
Pan-American Highway
Northern Mexico to Southern Chile
Trans-Andean Highway
Trans Amazonian Highway
3,000 miles long, stretches from Atlantic to Peruvian border
Highway was rendered unstable, subject to inundation during heavy rains, blocking traffic & leaving crops to rot
Rail systems
Air travel helps overcome geographical barriers, offered in all LA capitals, most major cities

11. Communications
Newspapers, radio & TV offered, but may be censored by the government during political unrest
Telephones
Few have them in their phones, many countries cannot afford residential home phone service
Major cities: many people (especially young) have cell phone service
Computers
Not many people can afford personal computers
1998: 34/1,000 Latin Americans owned a computer
Peru is helping people get online through public Internet centers

12. What differences do you see in the two pictures?

13. Spatial Inequality in Mexico City
Unequal distribution of wealth or resources
“haves”: middle & upper classes
¼ of city’s population
Upper class: large landowners, leaders in business or government. Live on estates, hire working poor to serve as maids, gardeners & drivers
Middle class: houses or apartment buildings, many work in education, business or government, can afford certain luxuries (telephones in homes)
“have nots”: lower class
Usually recent migrants to the city, live in slums (some made of cardboard) without electricity
Jobs as maids, gardeners, cooks, diswashers, construction workers
Long hours for little pay, travel long distances
Working poor: working-class neighborhoods closer to the center of town, living conditions a little better than poorest class
Tenements, apartment buildings
Electricity but lack running water