A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present

List of Figures xi

List of Maps xiii

Preface xiv

Acknowledgments xvii

Cover image xix

1 Introduction to the Land and Its People 1

Geography 2

People 2

Economies 6

Politics 8

Culture and Entertainment 12

Latin America: Past and Present 20

2 Latin America in 1790 23

Colonial Background 24

Power and Privilege 28

Land 29

Colonial Administration 32

Enlightened Monarchy 33

The Agents of the Reform 35

Disorder and Rebellion 37

Discontent and Disorder in Brazil 39

Changing Gender Roles 40

On the Road to Independence 42

Nationalism and American Culture 42

Conclusion 46

3 Competing Notions of Freedom 49

Five Roads to Independence 50

African Slavery in the Americas 51

Slavery and the Countryside 55

Slavery in the Cities 55

Treatment and Punishment 57

Slavery and the Church 58

African Medicine and Religious Practices 59

Resistance and Rebellion 60

The Sugar Colony of Saint-Domingue 62

The Slave Revolt 64

The Revolution Betrayed 66

Brazil’s Independent Empire 67

Independence in Mexico 68

South American Independence 70

Post-independence Changes in Racial and Gender Status 74

The Last Holdout of Slavery in Spanish America 75

Latin America in a Changing World Order 77

Conclusion 78

4 Fragmented Nationalisms 81

Searching for Political and Economic Unity 81

New World “Feudalism” 82

Post-independence Politics 86

Argentina and the Tyrants 87

Populist Caudillismo: Paraguay and Bolivia 89

After Caudillismo 91

Race, Race Mixture, and Liberalism 93

Gender and Liberalism 96

Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class 98

Nationalism 101

Conclusion 101

5 Latin America’s Place in the Commodity Chain 105

The Guano Boom 106

Nitrates in Chile 108

Sugar and Coffee 109

The Growth of São Paulo 111

Colombian Coffee 113

The Rubber Boom 114

Expanding Exports 115

Mexico and US Expansionism 117

The North American Invasion 118

General López de Santa Anna 120

The New Age of Imperialism 121

Central America and the Panama Canal 122

Ecuador and the “Panama” Hat 125

Independence at Last? Cuba and Puerto Rico 128

Conclusion 133

6 Immigration, and Urban and Rural Life 135

Asian Immigration 136

European Immigration 137

The Southern Cone 138

Life on the Pampas 141

British Investment 142

The Changing Cultural Landscape 144

Urban Renewal 147

Mexico and Benito Juárez 149

French Invasions 150

The Rise of Porfirio Díaz 151

Intellectual Theories: Positivism and Eugenics 152

Conclusion 154

7 Revolution from Countryside to City: Mexico 157

The Porfiriato 158

Opposition to the Porfiriato 160

Constitutional Opposition 161

Madero Assassinated 163

US Intervention 163

Women in Combat 164

Carranza as President 165

The Constitution of 1917 169

Aftermath of Struggle 170

Agrarian Revolts in Latin America 171

Conclusion 174

8 The Left and the Socialist Alternative 175

Socialism on the World Stage 175

Social Reform and the Middle Class 176

Anarchism, Socialism, and Anarcho-syndicalism 177

Women in the Workforce 178

Colombia: Resistance to the United Fruit Company 179

The Labor Movement 181

Socialism and the Arts 182

Tenentes Revolt and Brazilian Communism 183

Modern Art Week in Brazil 185

Women in the Arts 187

Socialism vs. Capitalism 189

José Carlos Mariátegui 190

Conclusion 191

9 Populism and the Struggle for Change 193

Getúlio Vargas and “New State” Politics 195

Juan Perón and Peronism 197

Perón’s Fall from Grace 200

Politics Engendered 201

Revolutionizing Mexico: Lázaro Cárdenas 203

Populism in Colombia and Peru 204

Central America 206

The Long Twentieth Century 210

Conclusion 211

10 Post-World War II Struggles for Sovereignty 213

World War II 213

Temporary Worker Program 215

Post-war Latin America 217

Military vs. Civilian Rule 219

The Absolute Dictator: Rafael Trujillo 221

Americas in Transition: Guatemala and Bolivia 225

Guatemala 225

Revolution in Bolivia 227

Mining and the Voice of Bolivian Activism 229

The Revolution in Decline 231

Conclusion 232

11 Cuba: Guerrillas Take Power 235

“History Will Absolve Me” 236

Causes for Discontent 237

The Revolutionary War 238

The Special Period in Peacetime 241

Cuba and the World 242

Ernesto “Che” Guevara 243

What Difference Did the Revolution Make? 246

Democratic Shortcomings 248

Conclusion 249

12 Progress and Reaction 251

Modernization and Progress 251

Brazil’s Military Coup 252

The National Security State 254

Latin America’s Youth Movement 255

Mexico 255

The Massacre at Tlateloco 256

The Chilean Road to Socialism 257

The Chilean Road to Socialism Dead Ends 259

Urban Guerrilla Warfare: Uruguay 260

Urban Guerrilla Warfare: Argentina 262

Dictatorship and State Terror 264

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo 266

The War of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands 267

Movements for Revolutionary Change: Peru 269

Sendero Luminoso, the Shining Path 270

Women and Shining Path 272

Repression and Fujimori 273

Conclusion 274

13 Revolution and Its Alternatives 277

A Changing Catholic Church 278

Marxism and Catholic Humanism 279

The Opposition 281

The Somozas versus Sandino: the Next Generation 281

The Sandinista Opposition 282

Sandinistas in Power 285

United States and the Sandinistas 288

Effects of the Contra War 289

Central America in Turmoil: El Salvador and Guatemala 291

Politics of Repression in El Salvador 292

The Opposition 293

The Fighting Ends 294

Guatemala: The Bloodiest War 295

The Evangelical Alternative 297

Colombia: The Longest War 299

The War on Drugs in Latin America 300

Conclusion 303

14 The Americas in the Twenty-first Century 305

The Washington Consensus 305

Brazil and the Workers’ Alternative 306

The Workers’ Party in Power 308

Bolivia: Twenty-first-century Indigenismo 309

Venezuela and Hugo Chávez 310

The Bolivarian Mission 312

Chávez and “the Pink Tide” 313

Complicating Social Ties 314

Chile’s Transition to Democracy 315

New Social Movements 317

Movements for Racial and Gender Equality 319

Women and Politics 320

The Latin Americanization of the United States 322

Immigration and Free Trade 325

Opponents Confront Free Trade 327

Immigration and Neoliberalism 330

Sharing the Environment and the Cost of Stewardship 331

Notes 335

Glossary 341

Further Reading 345

Index 359