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Che Guevara

was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, military theorist, and major figure of the Cuban Revolution. Since his death, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous counter-cultural symbol.

Quechua

Incan language

Isthmus

A narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas

Mestizo

A person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.

Fidel Castro

Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927)

Simon Bolivar

The most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America. Born in Venezuela, he led military forces there and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Mayan

the language spoken by the Maya people

Aztecs

Also known as Mexica, they created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325-1521 C.E.). They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax.

Incan

This civilization was located in the Andes Mountains of South America.

Tenochtitlan

Capital of the Aztec Empire

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

Father Miguel Hidalgo

a catholic priest who led the Mexican War of Independence (from Spain)

Jose de San Martin

Led revolts for Argentina and worked with Bolivar to free Peru from Spanish rule

Augusto Pinochet

A dictator in Chile who came to power by a military takeover promising to restore stability.

Favela

a slum community in a Brazilian city

Maquiladora

Factories built by US companies in Mexico near the US border to take advantage of much lower labor costs in Mexico.

MERCOSUR

Pact among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay to establish a free trade area

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; allows open trade with US, Mexico, and Canada.

USMCA

New "NAFTA": agreement between U.S, Mexico, and Canada aimed to make fairer trades between the U.S and its neighbors

Panama Canal

Ship canal cut across the isthmus of Panama by United States, it opened in 1915.

Machu Picchu

Abandoned city high in the Andes mountains that showcases the architectural genius of the Inca

Terrace farming

a farming system that is in the form of steps going up a mountain

Emperor Atahualpa

Ruler who's father was killed by infectious disease , gained throne by killing his half brother in civil war and was executed by Francisco Pizarro.

Moctezuma II

(1466-1520) Aztec ruler from 1502 to 1520; he was the emperor of the Aztecs when Cortés and his army conquered the empire. He was taken prisoner and killed during battle with the Spanish army.

Galapagos Islands

Chain of islands near South America where Darwin developed his theory of natural selection by studying the unique life there.

The Pampas

A grasslands region in Argentina and Uruguay

los llanos

The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela

The Pantanal

the world's largest wetland, located in South America

The Andes Mountains

A large system of mountain ranges located along the Pacific coast of Central and South America

Slash and burn

A farming method involving the cutting of trees, then burning them to provide ash-enriched soil for the planting of crops