Latin America After WWII

Monroe Doctrine

opposed continental interference with the independence of the new states by Europeans

Dollar Diplomacy

armed active intervention by the US to restore stability, protect investments, or collect debts

Organization of America States (OAS)

35 nations of the Western Hemisphere joined to provide a mechanism for settling disputes among republics

Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)

overthrew the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz and attempted to address social, political, economic inequalities; established 1917 Constitution

Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

dominant Mexican political organization; modernization but slighted social needs, corruption, controlled elections

Juan Domingo Perón (p. 1946-1974)

came to power in 1946 with the backing of the working classes, became increasingly authoritarian as Argentina’s economy declined in the early 1950s; populist welfare state and charismatic leadership

Cuban Revolution (1959)

Fidel Castro and a small band of leftist guerrillas overthrew the repressive dictatorship under Fulgencio Batista in 1959

Cuba Under Castro/Communism

Castro moved into the Soviet orbit, economic failure, totalitarian coercion, Cuban Missile Crisis

Augusto Pinochet (dict. 1973-1990)

Chilean dictator that came to power in a U.S.-backed coup (Cold War) that overthrew a democratically elected socialist president; brutal authoritarian regime, human rights violations

Dirty War (1976–1983)

Period of state terrorism in Argentina in which the military government targeted anyone seen as a threat; forced disappearances, torture, murder

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

women staged weekly protests in Buenos Aires against the actions taken by Argentina’s government during the Dirty War, demanding information about their missing children

Operation Condor (1975-1983)

campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers

NAFTA (1994-)

free trade agreement w/ US and Mexico (and others); did not significant enhance economic conditions for most poor Mexicans