Revolution and Identity in Latin America Quiz 4

Definition: Populism

A political approach where leaders or movements claim to represent the common people against the elite.

Populism: Historical Significance 1

• Not automatically left-winged or right-winged (left-winged focuses on rich corporations, inequality, and workers, and right-winged focuses on nationalism, immigration, and traditional values)

• Typically appears during times of crisis or social unrest

• Helps shape political movements and helps explain how leaders gain mass support by directly appealing to the general people and not the elite.

Populism: Historical Significance 2

• Traits:

  • Nationalism

  • Use of elections

  • Weak institutional mediation

  • Not anti-democratic, not fully liberal either

  • Charismatic leader:

    • Emotional bond between leader & followers.

Definition: Jorge Eliecer Gaitán

• Born in 1903, Bogota (modest, lower middle class origins). He was a trained lawyer and took an early interest in social justice and inequality. He gained national attention after the United Fruit Company massacre of 1928, where many workers were killed after going on strike asking for better labor rights.

Jorge Eliecer Gaitán: Historical Significance 1

• He was a critic of the oligarchic control in both major parties, which allowed him to build a reputation as a defender of the poor. Some qualities that allowed him to have a direct appeal to the people were that he was a powerful and emotional orator, and formed politics such as: “The people vs. the oligarchy.”

Jorge Eliecer Gaitán: Historical Significance 2

• His assassination (April 19, 1948) triggered El Bogotazo, causing massive riots that included looting and extreme violence that left the city in chaos. Thousands of civilians were killed and/or injured, marking the beginning of violence (La Violencia).

Definition: Dirty Wars

Refers to period from 1960s - 1980s when authoritarian governments used state-sponsored violence, repression, and terror to eliminate political opposition. Often targeting suspected leftists, activists, students, and ordinary citizens, using tactics like kidnapping, torture, censorship, and forced disappearances

Dirty Wars: Historical Significance 1

Most well-known instance, in Dirty War in Argentina, carried out under military dictatorship led by Jorge Rafael Videla. This led to the activist organization of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, during and after this time in Argentina. Under this dictatorship, an estimated 30,000 people were “disappeared”, many being young adults, some of whom were pregnant young women at the time.

Dirty Wars: Historical Significance 2

The human rights organization Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo was formed in 1977 to search for children and grandchildren who were kidnapped and illegally adopted during the Argentine dictatorship of 1976-1983, restore identity, and demand justice. They provide legal counseling, assistance in investigations, and psychological support, and are still in operation today. 

Definition: Repression

Refers to the use of state power, often times violence, intimidation, surveillance, imprisonment, torture, forced disappearance, or censorship, to suppress opposition, dissent, and perceived threats to a ruling authority. In the Latin American context, it typically describes the systematic targeting of political opponents, journalists, indigenous communities, labor organizers, students, and civil society groups by governments or state backed forces.

Repression: Historical Significance 1

Forced Labor Camps (UMAP) This took place in Cuba during the mid 1960’s there were camps that were created by the Military Units to Aid Protection. These camps held “ideological deviants” which were people who were out of the standards of society. These people included religious believers and political opponents.

Repression: Historical Significance 2

Operation Condor (1975-1983):  A coordinated campaign among the dictatorships of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil to track, kidnap, torture, and “disappear” political dissidents across borders. 

Definition: USSR Communism and Latin America

The USSR influenced communist-inspired movements to unravel in Latin America in countries such as Cuba and Chile. Communist ideas inspired the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro and were supported by other political figures, Che Guevara and Raul Castro. The plan primarily sought to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. The spread of communist ideas and influence eventually led Cuba to become a socialist state. 

USSR and Latin America: Historical Significance 1

Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Russia became the USSR in 1922, the first nation claiming to be modeled after Marxist principles and communism. Its government served as the model for other communist nations worldwide and helped promote and organize revolutionary groups and labor unions through organizations like the Communist International from 1919-1943 (Comintern).

USSR and Latin America: Historical Significance 2

The attempts by the USSR to influence Latin America and spread its communist ideals caused pushback from the U.S during the cold war, pushing the idea to fear communism. The U.S, for example, supported corrupt anti-communist regimes such as Argentina, who fought against and killed these leftist groups during the Dirty War.

Definition: Montoneros

Peronist youth.  They were primarily composed of young men & women of the middle class, and were dedicated to the overthrow of the government in Argentina. The montoneros funded themselves through bank robberies and with the large ransoms paid to them for the release of their kidnap victims.

Montoneros: Historical Significance 1

-”Far-left urban guerilla organization” 

Emerged around 1970

Claim to represent “the people” and true Peronism

Slogan before Peron death: Peron or death. After death: Fatherland or death.

Ideals

• Nationalism: Defense of the Argentine nation

• Catholic activism

• Anti-imperialism

• Violence an ethical duty

Montoneros: Historical Significance 2

After the 1967 coup, they became heavily repressed by the military dictatorship, losing thousands of militants during the “Dirty War”.

The organization was dismantled in 1979, and with many leaders in’ exile and later arrested.

Definition: Herbert Matthews

Herbert Lionel Matthews was a prominent journalist known for his significant contributions to The New York Times. He gained widespread attention after revealing that Fidel Castro was still alive, a crucial detail during the Cuban Revolution. . His work on the Cuban Revolution was notable, as he provided critical knowledge that helped revive the revolutionary movement.

Herbert Matthews: HIstorical Significance 1

Matthews' reporting during the Spanish Civil War and the Italian conquest of Ethiopia showcased his commitment to honest and engaging journalism. Matthews' legacy is marked by his engagement with complex political issues and his role in shaping public perception of history.

Herbert Matthews: Historical Significance 2

• Works for the New York Times

• Portrayed Castro & his movement as nationalists fighting for democracy

• Gives Castro national and international legitimacy

• They were a small guerilla group and then become a political force

Definition: Cuba and the USSR

HS from 1960 to 1990 Cuba and the USSR were allies. The USSR gave Cuba all its oil on credit.

Cuba and the USSR: Historical Significance 1

HS Fidel announced Cuba as a socialist republic after the failed 1961 bay of pigs invasion. The Cuban Revolution was driven by deep social and economic inequality, political corruption, and repression under Batista’s regime. Many Cubans supported the revolution in pursuit of social justice, democracy, and national sovereignty free from foreign influence.

Cuba and the USSR: Historical Significance 2

Fidel Castro (Cuba) aligned with the Soviet Union due to increasing hostility from the United States, including economic embargoes and invasion attempts. The Soviet Union provided military defense and political/economic assistance to Cuba to expand influence and challenge U.S. power.

After the 1959 revolution, Cuba developed a close strategic, military, and economic alliance with the Soviet Union, lasting until 1991. 

Definition: Evita Perón

Eva Peron was the First Lady of Argentina, a political leader, and major advocate for workers, women, and the poor during her husband's presidency.

Evita Perón: Historical Significance 1

Eva helped expand social welfare and labor rights. She provided aid such as housing, healthcare, and financial support to the poor. This helped strengthen the populist movement known as Peronism and contributed to the growing trend of appealing to the working class. 

Evita Perón: Historical Significance 2

She was very important in advancing women's political rights, especially women's suffrage in Argentina in 1947. She also helped ready women politically through the Female Peronist Party, which was an important shift in gender roles and political participation in Latin America at this time. 

Definition: Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende was the first democratically elected socialist president of Chile, serving from 1970 until his death in 1973.

Salvador Allende: Historical Significance 1

He earned a medical degree from the University of Chile in 1932 and became politically activist as a Marxist, co-founding the Chilean Socialist Party in 1933. He served as a deputy, senator, and minister of health before running for the presidency multiple times in the 1950s and 1960s.

Salvador Allende: Historical Significance 2

In his presidency, Allende pursued a program known as the Chilean Path to Socialism, which included nationalizing major industries, expanding education, and improving living standards for the working class. Far right wing parties highly opposed particularly the United States that did not want to be affected by socialism.