Chapter 7-8

Chapter 7

Neocolonialism in Latin America: Structure Without Sovereignty

1880-1930, Latin America enters neocolonial period

  • economic, cultural, and political dependence on Brit and USA

  • while politically independent, subordinated in global affairs

  • foreign investment shapes economies, cities and govts through regions

  • race and class hiearchies unchanges

  • elites emulate european culture, depend heavily on export markets

    • brit and usa have favored markets where they place telegraph lines and other things

  • independent on paper, not practice

Great Export Boom

  • Economies ecplode with growth throigh comoddity exports

    • benefits flowed almost exclusively to elites

      • brazil coffee

        • dominated global markets, vast wealth for plantation owners

      • nitrates chile

        • mining controlled by foreign companies

      • sugar cuba

        • dependent econonmy vulnerable to price fluctuations and us control

      • wheat argentina

        • exports mulitplied 1,000 fold

  • infrastructure like railroads built specifically to serve exports, not internal development

    • argentina wheat export multiplied 1,000 fold

    • brazil produced 2/3 of worlds coffee

  • export boom grew landowner wealth, and grew a middle class of professionals who did secondary things, but still small section of economy

Disposession and Agrarian Capitalism

  • economic modernization devastated traditional rural life

    • ex: mexico: railroad expansion displaced indigenous communities, only 3% of population owned land in 1910 → extreme inequality

    • vagrancy laws forced rural laborers into underpaid work on large estates by criminalzing unemployment

      • el savador and guatemale, indigenous people systemically pushed into coffee plantations

    • rural majorities couldnot influence politics due to literacy and income voting requirements

    • agrian capitalism also made countryside worse and impoverished rural people more

  • colombia, ecuador, and peru, and brazil had rubber in the amazon and indigenous people were forced into rubber trades until the rubber industry was undercut by malaysian rubber

Industrial Monocultures and Foreign Control

  • certain industries became compeletly cominated by foreign corporations, creating economic enclaves with little connection to national development

    • rubber boom created enormous wealth before collapsing

    • United Fruit Company established banana republic, controlling agriculture and government

  • USA military supported corporate interests when threatened

Urban Growth and Cultural Modernity

  • while most latin americans remained rural, buenos aires and mexico city modernized rapidly during neocolonial period

  • buenos aires transformed from 100,000 people to 2 million by 1930

  • wealthy elites lived european lifestyles

    • consume imported good and contruct paris style boulevards

    • education expanded with elite sons studying law and politics

Managed Elections and Oligarchic Rule

  • Rise of “positivism”, french social dosctrine that prescribed authrotiarian medicine to achieve order and progress and made european norms into universal standards

    • mass politics rejected, only “scientific” rule by best and brightest

  • elections systemically manipulated by landowners and elites who disqualified opposition votes and controlled outcome

  • most could not vote due to property and literacy requirements

  • governance took form of oligarchies (rule by a few) or dictatorships (by one strong man)

  • elites embrace order and progress > dmocratic participation

Porfiro Diaz and Pofiriato

  • porfiro diaz 35 uear rule in mexico epitomized neocolonial dictatorship

  • founded rurales (national police) to secure enviornment for investor properties

  • sold public land to foreign investments

  • regime welcomes foreign investment, built extensive railroads, and modernized cities

  • brutally supressed opposition and indiegnous communities

  • positivist ideology, promoted racial hiearchies

U.S Hegemony and 1898 War

  • US Power gradually overtook Brit influence, beginning with SpanishAmerican War

    • Spanish American War (1898), US defeated SPain and seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Phillippines

    • Platt Amendment (1901), Limited Cuban Sovereignty and gave US right to intervene militarily

    • Roosevely Corollary (1904), Claimed US right to excercise international police power in Latin America

    • Military Interventions, US forces occupied numerous countries including Nicaragua, Haiti, and Dominican Republic

      • sometimes “debt collection” with messy police work and public health and sanitation

      • nicuragua was military internvention that involved fighting with guerillas

      • usa installs dictatorsm but continued us neocolonialism leads to increased latin american nationalism

Cultural Dpenedence and the End of an Era

  • neocolonialism not just economic, shapes latin american culture and identity

  • neocolinial system collapsed with great depression

  • shattered legitmacy of ologarchies and dictatorships seeting stage for nationalist movements

Chapter 8

Latin American Nationalism: New political identity

  • after 1929, new wave of nationalism swept across latin america, combining traditional nativist sentiments with strong economic agenda

  • movement largely driven by middle clas,s urban citizens of mixed heritage or recent immigrant descent— groups previously excluded from neocolonial elite circles

  • new nationalists directly challenged cultural and economic dominance of europe and usa and industrailization

  • advocated for psycoloigal independence

  • pride in racial and cultural mixing, broad appeal on inclusion anti imperalism and industrial development

    • emphasizes metiszo identities

  • nationalist movement provided latin america with shared political identity

cultural nationalism and celebration of racial identity

  • latin ameican nationalism embraced mestizaj, rejecting previous elite aspirations to whiten population

  • cultura; shift represents decisive break from scientific racism

  • leading artists and intellectuals played crucial roles in elevating indigenous and african cultural themes

  • reimagining of national identitiy, celebrated rather than suprress diver racial heritage

mexican revolution: blueprint for revolutionary nationalism

  • mexican revolution began 1910 as uprising against porfiro diaz

    • led by diverse figures with different agendas: madero, zapata, pancho villa, and later constitutioanlists

  • revolution culminated in 1917 constitution, established groundbreaking nationalist principles through article 27 (nationalized subsoil rights including oil) and article 123 (est labor rights), limiting foreign and church power

  • post rev govts used education and land reform to build nationalists legitmacy

nationalist governemnts across latin america

  • nationalist movements took different forms across latin america, with several countries establishing govts focused on national development and sovereignty

    • uruguay becomes hemispehre first welfare state

    • argentina, mass political rise whowever, foreign capital largely remained dominant

    • peru, ingenismo with anti imperialism, indo america and grassroots mobilization, faced a lot of repression

Import Subsitution Industrialization: economic nationalism

  • import subsitiution industrialization: emerged during WW1 and expanded during great depression because of economic crashes

  • intl trade collapsed, latin american nations (brazil, mexico and argentina) filled vacuum by developing domestic industries

    • nationalists could prove that inudstrialization means moving out of necolonial shadow and controlling national destiny

  • isi promoyed govt activism through labor laws, nationalized utilities, price controls, and state owned enterprises

  • isi benefiys were unevenly distrubuted

    • urban areas saw great gaines, middle class workers, beureucrats and skilled laborers in these areas enjoyed rising wages, job protections and political inclusion through populist coalitions

    • rural regions experienced fewer benefits

Brazil Under Vargas: The NEw State

  • Getullo Vargas rose to power in 1930 in Brazil’s Revolution of the Ballot Box

    • initially ruling as constitutional president, later established a dictatorship under estado nuovo

  • industrailization, created national banks and established brazils first steel company

  • labor relations, introduced protections but banned strikes and established corporatist unions

  • cultural nationalism, embraces afro-brazilian culture, supported samba and backed gilberto freyres racial theories

lazaro cardenas: mexico transformational nationalist

  • as president from 1934 to 1940, larzo cardenas implemented some latin americas most ambitious nationalist polcies

  • redistributed over 45 million acres of land to peasant communities, fundamentally transforming mexicos rural landscape

  • cardenas actively supported labor strikes, and nationalized mecos oil industry in 1938 (PEMEX)

  • bold action rallied unprecendented national unity and demonstrated mexicos economic sovereignty

US Latin America Relations: Good Neighbor Policy

  • fdr good neighbor policy marked a significant shift in us relations iwth latin america

  • ending direct military interventions

  • cultural diplomacy

    • disney three caballeros represnted us effors to build cultural connections with la during ww2

  • diplomatic engagements

    • roosevelts admin emphazised formal dipolomatic relations rather than military intervention

  • cultural exchange

    • carmen miranda cultural ambassador

  • usa still suports dictators

uneven effects of latin american nationalism

  • nationalist movements brough significant urban improvements and expanded middle class, uneven distrubuted effects

  • rural areas exluded

  • shantytowns grew rapidly around major cities

  • racism persisted despite inclusive nationalist rhetoric

  • success of nationalist reforms varied framatically

    • guatemala, el salvador, and nicaragua powerful neoclonial elites and us influence sipressed nationalist movements, preventing kinds of reforms seen in mexico and brazil

Populaist Nationalism: distinctive political style

  • leaders like galtan (cololmbia) de la torre (peru), cardenas (mexico) and vargas (brazil) pinoneer distinctive political approach combining mass poliyics with direct appeals to poor and working class

  • populist nationalism blends leftist rhetoric with paternalist leadership, creating movements that transcend trad ideological boundaries