Latin American Specifics

A Quick-Hitter on Mexico, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, and Cuba

You say you want a Rev-ah-loooo-chaaa-ahh-ahh-ahh-an…

Cuba: an Army officer named Fulgencio Batista was the corrupt leader of Cuba until the reign of Fidel Castro

Castro led a revolution and took control of the Cuban government in 1959

Originally, Castro had the support of the lower and middle class as he promised reform education reform agriculture improve health care restore civil liberties hold open elections

He also wanted a Cuba free from U.S. influence

Get Rid of Castro

The Bay of Pigs was an attempt by the CIA to assassinate Castro by using Cuban exiles

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest we ever came to nuclear war

Mexican Problems

We talked about Mexico yesterdayTo finish it up, you need to know Mexico

faced the following problems: Increased emigration (people leaving for the

U.S. or other places to find jobs)Peasant farmer uprisings (felt the

government wasn’t doing enough to help) Inability to pay debts due to inflation

Nicaragua + U.S. = Bad Times

Nicaragua: A group called the Sandinistas took control of the government in 1979

Sandinistas were pro-Marxist, allies with Cuba and moved Nicaragua towards Communism

This didn’t work for the U.S. (during Cold War) so the U.S. funded a group called the contras to begin a guerrilla war to overthrow the Sandinistas

U.S. put a trade embargo on Nicaragua in 1985; country struggled because of the money spent on the war (even with help from Cuba and USSR)

Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega peacefully gave up power in 1990 when he was defeated in free elections

Chile

Chile’s leadership under Augusto Pinochet began in 1973

Pinochet ended the legislature, outlawed political parties, and restricted civil liberties

Pinochet did allow Chile’s economy to operate under free market forces and with foreign investment (supply and demand)

This led to lower inflation but high unemployment (around 20% throughout Pinochet’s reign)

Unemployment led to unhappiness in Chile though and people voted him out of office in 1989

Brazil

Land: Amazon River, World’s Largest Rainforest Resources: Minerals, Timber, Farms (coffee and

sugar) Military controlled Brazil from the mid ’60s (fear of

communism) until 1989 when there was a direct election for president

In 1993, Brazil voted for a republic vs. monarchy in a plebiscite (they chose the republic)

Great separation between haves and have-nots Slums exist around luxurious high-rise apartments, wealthy

shopping areas, and beautiful beaches The city represents the growth of Brazil; the homeless of the

favelas represent the progress still be attained

Left: Rio de Janeiro; Right: Rio’s Favelas

Brazil’s Economic Miracle

“Brazil is a country for the future, and always will be.” Double Rainbow?

Early 1900s: Rubber major export rubber declines leading to hardships coffee replaces rubber coffee prices decline and natural disasters hurt economy

1930s: Diversify economy (not just reliant on 1 export) by encouraging industry and building schools

1950s: New capital (Brasilia) carved out from Amazon rainforest (goal: 50 yrs of progress in 5)

“Power in the world is a great nation that has territory, population, wealth, financial resources, technology, material goods, minerals.”

Brazil had almost all of these, leading to impressive growth Steel, cars, and shoes were all produced This economic miracle brought extreme wealth to few while bringing

little or no benefit to most Brazilians (in the 1980s a handful of wealthy families owned more than 50% of land)

Read honors book paragraph p. 653