Latin America

Economic Development

Subsistence Agriculture

  • Guatemala, Bolivia

  • grow beans, corn, and potatoes for their consumption

location: often isolated areas with fertile land + access to water with small-scale machinery

Commercial Agriculture

  • Central America/ Argentina

  • coffee plantations and ranching/farming

location: fertile land with favorable climate, accessible to markets, large-scale machinery

Manufacturing

  • Brazil and Mexico

  • automobile + textile industries

location: near transportation networks, urban areas, dependent on energy supply and labor force availability

Mining

  • Venezuela and Peru

  • oil + copper

location: dependent on energy supply and availability of resources and environment regulations

Service

  • Panama and Chile

  • tourism, ecotourism, finance, and technology sectors

  • tourism → 10% of Latin American GDP

  • banking, retail

  • tech startups + research institutions

location: cities/tourist destinations, economic development

Economic Sectors of Latin America

Primary

  • extracts raw materials from earth (mining + agriculture)

  • fishing in Peru, logging in Paraguay, oil in Venezuela, copper in Peru

Secondary

  • processing raw materials into manufactured goods

  • car manufacturing in Mexico, textile production in Colombia

Tertiary

  • services provided in consumers and businesses

  • tourism and ecotourism: marketing and sales of lodging, food, and tours

  • banking in Panama and retail operations in Chile

Quaternary

  • knowledge-based services such as information generation and sharing

  • tech startups in Buenos Aires and research institutions in Brazil

Political History of Latin America

  1. Pre-Colombian Civilization: Maya, Inca, and the Aztec civilizations thrived in before European contact

  2. European Colonization: Spain and Portugal colonized most of Latin America, hence why the dominant language is Spanish and Portuguese, and Catholicism dominates as religion

  3. Independence Movements: Countries fought and gained their independence, however brought political instability and ongoing democratization challenges

  4. Post- Independence Conflicts: Border disputes, numerous wars, and civil conflicts broke out

  5. Economic Dependency and Influence from the U.S (1900s): Latin American economies relied on the export of raw materials, often controlled by foreign companies

  6. Cold War: the U.S. supported various coups and dictatorships to prevent communism, leading to various authoritarian regimes and suppression of freedom ( CHILE AND GUATEMALA)

  7. Leftist and Right-Wing Movements (2000s) : surge in leftist governments promoting social welfare, surge in right-wing movements for free-market policies

  8. Present: spectrum of left, right, and centrist governments

COMMON ISSUES: corruption, economic inequality, sustainable development, and political trajectories for the future.

Democratic/ Republic Governments: Mexico, Brazil, Honduras (shifting towards dictatorship/ totalitarian rule)

Dictatorship: Venezuela, Chile

Totalitarian: Cuba

The Columbian Exchange:

The Old World: explorers began crossing the Atlantic in late 1400s (Christopher Columbus)

The New World:

  • Portugal - Brazil

  • Spain - Mexico and large majority of South America

  • France - Haiti, Guadalupe, Martinque

  • England - Barbados, Jamaica

  • Netherlands - Antilles and Aruba

Columbian Exchange: the widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, disease, and ideas began between the two hemispheres

→ impact on economy: new industries, increased trade, enforcement of the encomienda system

→ impact on diets: new crops became staple foods, better nutrition leads to longer life expectancy, population growth

→ impact on Indigenous Groups: Spanish conquistadors killed thousands of the population, and diseases brought by explorers wiped out 90% of the Native American population

→ impact on culture: massive amounts of cultural diffusion, conversion of religion from Catholics and Christians, indigenous culture and religion suffers

Triangle of Trade: transatlantic trading network developed between Europe, Africa, and the Americas

Middle Passage: voyage that brought captured Africans to be sold into slavery

Mercantilism:

  • country gains power by building its wealth - specifically in gold and silver

  • promotes colonization and exploitation 

Quiz Revision:

  • Voters are prioritizing leaders who can oppose corruption

  • Chile is more densely populated than Bolivia

  • Panama Canal is not the longest canal in the world

  • The primary reason behind modern immigration is not economic immigration

  • No jobs was original reason behind immigration

  • Bureaucratic = government

  • Not only manual labor - machines as well

Q: How did the arrival of Europeans affect the production of chicha among the Inca?

A: It led to its commercialization and loss of ritual value.

Q: How did the concept of commodification affect native commodities?

A: It transformed them into European market goods.

Q: What was the consequence of the Columbian exchange

A: It facilitated the spread of diseases to native populations.