Democracy in Latin America

1. Democracy in Latin America

2. Objectives • Analyze how Latin America grappled with poverty. • Describe Latin America’s difficult road to democracy. • Understand the struggle for democracy in Argentina.

3. Terms and People • import substitution – manufacturing goods locally to replace imports • agribusiness – a giant commercial farm often owned by a multinational corporation • liberation theology – movement within the Catholic Church that urged the church to become a force for reform, social justice, and an end to poverty • Organization of American States (OAS)– a group formed in 1948 to promote democracy, economic cooperation, and human rights in the Americas

4. Sandinista– a movement of socialist rebels in Nicaragua who toppled the ruling family contra– a guerrilla who fought the Sandinistas and received the support of the United States indigenous– native Juan Perón– the nationalist president of Argentina between 1946 and 1955 Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo– movement of women who protested weekly in a central plaza in the capital of Argentina against the disappearance or killing of relatives Terms and People (continued)

5. What challenges have Latin American nations faced in recent decades in their struggle for democracy and prosperity? Latin America is made up of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. Although most nations in this region have been independent since the early 1800s, they have dealt with challenges similar to those of other developing nations. These problems include population growth, poverty, illiteracy, and political instability.

6. One of the main challenges that confronted Latin America from the 1950s to the 1980s was poverty. • Latin American countries relied heavily on single cash crops and imported everything else. • To try to change this, governments adopted an import substitution policy, promoting the manufacture of goods to be used domestically. • However, manufacturing goods at home was costly. Many new industries required government help.

7. Latin American nations have worked to diversify their economies in recent decades, with some success. The region gave up promoting import substitution and turned to promoting cash crops and manufactured goods for export. Some nations have become oil exporters.

8. They promoted irrigation projects and cleared forests. • The conversion of tropical rain forests to farmland has produced economic benefit, but also has had environmental costs. • The best land belongs to agribusinesses, commercial farms owned by corporations. Another government strategy to cut poverty was to open more land to farming.

9. In many Latin American countries, one obstacle to progress is the unequal distribution of wealth. • As in the past, a tiny elite controls the land, businesses, and factories. • These powerful groups oppose reforms that might undermine their position. • The growing gap between rich and poor has fueled discontent.

10. Latin America’s population exploded between 1930 and 1980. • Economic growth did not keep pace with population growth. • Land shortages drove peasants to the cities. Many live in crowded shantytowns and survive by doing odd jobs.

11. Traditionally, the Catholic Church has been tied to the ruling class. • However, many priests and nuns crusaded for an end to poverty in a movement called liberation theology. • Protestant evangelical groups have won converts among the poor. The Catholic Church and other religious groups reached out to the poor.

12. Social unrest has led to military rule in many Latin American nations. • Since the 1950s, many groups have pressed for reforms to aid the poor and promote democracy. • Conservatives resisted change and sought to hold on to their power. • Military rulers seized power in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and other nations. • Many people were imprisoned, killed, or exiled for speaking out against authoritarian regimes.

13. Many Latin Americans admire U.S. wealth, but resent military and cultural dominance. The United States has long exerted a powerful influence over Latin America. It is the dominant power in the Organization of American States (OAS) and the region’smain trading partner. The United States sees its role as providing aid and defending democracy and capitalism.

14. During the Cold War, the United States intervened in Latin America and often backed anti-communist dictators. • In Cuba, President Kennedy backed the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow Castro in 1961. • In Chile, the United States secretly backed a military coup in 1973 that toppled a socialist president and put a military dictator in power. • In Nicaragua, Sandinista rebels toppled the ruling family in 1979. The Reagan administration backed the anti-communist contras, and the two sides fought until 1990.

15. The United States began a “war on drugs” in the 1980s that led to further American military involvement in Latin America. • The United States invaded Panama in 1989 to arrest its president, Manuel Noriega, for drug trafficking. • Though Latin American governments helped by trying to crush cartels, critics in Latin America argued that the main issue was the demand for drugs in the United States.

16. Rebels in Guatemala fought regimes that targeted the indigenous population and killed tens of thousands. • Oscar Romero, a Catholic archbishop in El Salvador, called for change until he was assassinated. A civil war lasted from 1980 to 1991. Civil wars broke out in Central America between the 1960s and 1990s as revolutionaries fought authoritarian leaders.

18. Argentina traveled a long road to democracy. • Juan Perón was president from 1946 to 1955. He suppressed opposition and was ousted in a coup. • The military was in and out of power for decades. • After a 1976 coup, the military government kidnapped and killed many citizens. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo protested by marching silently with pictures of their missing children.

19. The military restored civilian rule in 1983. • Argentina became a democracy. • A financial crisis in 2001 devastated the economy. It recovered after 2003. • Economic progress was undermined by the 2008 global recession.