Latin America: Reform Or Revolt
Early Latin America
Author: Stearns, Peter
Date: 1999
After World War Two, Latin America shared many of the problems experienced by
the developing countries of the non-European world. Formerly competitive
economies such as those of Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil have fallen far
behind rapidly advancing areas such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Whether in countries of primarily European stock (Argentina, Uruguay, and
Chile); dualistic Indian-Spanish societies (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and
Mexico); melting pot societies such as Brazil and Venezuela; or single crop
economies such as those of Central America, Latin America faced serious
problems at the end of the century.
The Perils Of The Postwar Era
The period since 1945 witnessed much political instability and social
unrest in the region. For example, the only countries with continuously
elected governments after 1950 have been those dominated by a single major
party. Between 1950 and 1966 fourteen governments were forcefully overthrown
and dictatorial rule was imposed on more than half of the Latin American
population. The political instability and the seeds of social upheaval spring
from appalling socioeconomic disparities. Despite the region's great natural
resources, the average citizen of Latin America is young and poor. Shanty
towns on the edges of large cities house thousands amid filth, disease,
hunger, and crime. Life expectancy for Latin American males is around 55 years
- fifteen years less than in North America. Agricultural productivity is
inefficient and low. The population increases by about 3 percent yearly. By
1990 the region's population topped 500 million, most in cities. Educational
and health services are insufficient and literacy rates remain low.
Since 1948 the countries south of the Rio Grande have been aligned with
the United States in the Organization of American States (OAS). Dominated by
the United States, the OAS has sought to prevent communists from acquiring
control in Latin American countries by well-meaning, if incomplete, social and
economic aid. After 1959, when Fidel Castro rapidly transformed Cuba into a
communist country, his attempts to export his revolution have been countered
by an OAS boycott.
In Castro's Cuba, educational and health standards rose appreciably, as
did living conditions among the peasants who comprised the great majority of
the population. The professional and middle classes, however, suffered losses
in both living standards and personal liberties and many hundreds of thousands
fled to the United States. Cuba exported sugar to other communist countries in
exchange for major economic subsidies from the Soviet Union. In 1975 sixteen
members of the OAS voted to end the embargo and the United States intimated a
desire for detente. This last possibility was made remote with the
intervention of thousands of Cuban troops and advisers in Angola and other
African countries.
By the end of the 1980s global political changes isolated Castro. Cuba's
role overseas ended with peace talks in Africa. The Soviet Union could no
longer afford the luxury of propping up Castro's failing economy. His version
of Marxism-Leninism was shared only in North Korea and Albania.
Castro's rule in Cuba sharpened the United States' interest in the area
south of its border. After the failure of the American invasion attempt at the
Bay of Pigs in 1961, President John F. Kennedy initiated, with Latin American
cooperation, the Alliance for Progress. The United States pledged $20 billion,
to be matched by the other members of the alliance. After twenty years, the
Alliance had done little to change basic conditions. Oligarchic rule,
paternalism, and incompetence hindered economic and political reform. By the
end of the 1980s, the major Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico
were deeply in debt, unable to pay even the interest on foreign loans. Rapidly
increasing inflation also hampered economic growth. In Brazil there was
substantial indication that a large percentage of the foreign loans were not
being invested in needed industrialization and regional integration, but were
instead being funneled to Swiss banks by top-ranking bureaucrats.
The Yankee Factor
A key element in Latin America is the relationship between the United
States and its neighbors. American economic involvement in Latin America has
remained massive. American companies continue to employ about 2 million
people, pay 25 percent of the region's taxes and produce one-third of its
exports. Softening the imperialist presence are the activities of humanitarian
efforts from the Rockefeller foundation and churches, and federal programs of
educational, agricultural, and social improvements.
At the same time, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used large
sums to support the opponents of President Salvador Allende of Chile. An
avowed pro-Soviet Marxist, Allende had been elected to power. In his hasty
efforts to nationalize industry, both domestic and foreign-owned, and to
redistribute land holdings, he had antagonized many of his own people.
Allende's regime came to a bloody end in a 1973 coup. Military leaders ousted
the president, who died - perhaps by his own hand - during the fighting. The
new repressive regime, under General Auguste Pinochet, imposed a harsh rule
and acted aggressively to curb all opposition, which had been growing since
the early 1980s. Pinochet stepped down in 1990 and was replaced by the
moderate Patricio Aylwin.
One long-standing source of discord between the United States and Latin
America was removed in 1978 when the United Senate approved the treaty that
returned the Panama Canal Zone to the Republic of Panama, while safeguarding
American interests in the area. This agreement, negotiated over a period of
fourteen years under four American presidents, was a sign to some that the
United States was eager to improve its relations with its neighbors. The
American military invasion of Panama in December 1989, however, indicated that
there were some excesses the United States would not tolerate. Allegations
that Panamanian President Manuel Noriega cooperated in drug running and
overturned democratic elections moved U.S. President Bush to order the
preemptive strike to oust Noriega.
In the last decade the countries of Latin America dealt differently with
the economic, social, and political challenges they faced. Many remained under
military rule. Others, such as Nicaragua, carried out successful socialist
revolutions, but faced the powerful overt and covert opposition of the United
States, the economic effects of which drastically lowered the country's
standard of living. Democratic elections in the spring of 1990 led to the
defeat of the Sandinista party in Nicaragua, but economic and social problems
remained to plague the new government. Tiny El Salvador struggled through a
bloody civil war, in which death squads from both right and left brought
terror to the countryside. Brazil made tentative economic progress before a
series of poor policy decisions darkened that country's future. Out-of-control
inflation destroyed Argentina's economy but Presidents Alfonsin and Salinas
were able to restore normal democratic politics in the country. Mexico was
stable under a single-party domination but faced a population rate that
outstripped its economic progress. Colombia found its basic sovereignty
undermined by drug lords, both foreign and domestic.
In the Caribbean, the British successfully ushered in independence in the
West Indies - Jamaica, Tobago, Trinidad, and Barbados - but unrest continued
in Haiti. President for Life Jean Claude Duvalier, "Baby Doc," was forced out
of office and fled the country in February 1986. The Caribbean island of
Grenada fell to a leftist government, before President Reagan sent the Marines
to the island to overthrow the regime in 1983.
With the end of the Cold War, the United States began to take a
longer-term, more economically focussed view of Latin America. Enhanced
perceptions of stability moved Washington to policies that may well prove to
be mutually beneficial to North and South.
