Final Exam

Question 1

United Fruit Company / Chiquita Bananas

Answer 1

Biggest fruit industry that had many plantations in L.A. ADD MORE???

Question 2

Global Conflicts affecting Latin America…Three major global crisis and their impact to the Latin American region

Answer 2

1. World War I (1914-1918) – Earlier period economic bust/Low demand for L.A. commodities; Later period rising cost of imports
2. Great Depression (1929-1941) – Slowed flows of exports to U.S. & Europe; Capital coming from the U.S. & Europe diminished; Gov’t intervention to revitalize national economies in the region
3. World War II (1939-1945) – British market shrunk; Finance credit programs eliminated; Marshall Plan (rebuilding Europe); Reserves from export sales during war led to inflation

Question 3

Mexican Revolution 1910-1920

Answer 3

The Mexican Revolution was a complex and bloody conflict which arguably spanned two decades, and in which 900,000 people lost their lives. It ended the 30 year long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.

Question 4

Leaders of the Mexican Revolution

Answer 4

Pancho Villa (Trad. Urban) & Emiliano Zapata (Trad. Rural). Fought against Madero, Diaz, and Carranza. Became icons of Mexican pop culture after their deaths.

Question 5

Constitution of 1917 of Mexico (3 articles studied in class)

Answer 5

Article 3 – Education reform (free, obligatory, and secular at primary level)
Article 27 – Land reform (No foreign company/individual could own more than 50% of a Mexican property/company; Redistribution of land; Nationalization of natural resources (oil))
Article 123 – Labor reform (8hr work day; Maternity leave; Minimum wage; Child labor regulations)

Question 6

Role of women in Mexican Revolution

Answer 6

Soldaderas/Adelitas were an army of Mexican women, supporters of the Revolution (nurses/cooking/etc), highest concentration in Northern Mexico

Question 7

What characterized the rise of this revolution against Porfirio Diaz?

Answer 7

Dictator united w/upper class, resentment due to gap between classes.

Question 8

Cultural Nationalism movement that emerged around the Mexican revolution?

Answer 8

Mexican Muralist Movement (1920-1970s)

Question 9

Muralism and its influence in Mexico and the Western Hemisphere?

Answer 9

Effort to bring national unity, social & political messages, public buildings, impact in other countries.

Question 10

Role of Mexican Muralist leaders (Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco)…

Answer 10

• Rivera = Muralist, helped birth of Mexican mural renaissance, inspired by Russian Revolution
• Siqueiros = Led attack in Mexico City against Russian leader Trotsky
• Orozco = Complex muralist, influenced by symbolism, politically committed to causes of workers & poor, less optimistic about revolution

Question 11

Economic Nationalism (Response by Latin American nations to the crisis)…

Answer 11

ISI, Populism, Good Neighbor Policy, etc.

Question 12

Import-Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

Answer 12

An economic policy with strong emphasis in replacing foreign imports w/domestic production; Fostered social & economic development in L.A.; Only big countries w/large national markets benefitted (Brazil, Argentina, etc.); Limited market to compete.

Question 13

Populism

Answer 13

Political stance that emphasizes the idea of “the people” over the elite. Ordinary people’s rights > rights of the wealthy & powerful; Middle class benefitted from social & educational programs sponsored by populist gov’t.

Question 14

Good Neighbor Policy/1932 Roosevelt (FDR)

Answer 14

Reciprocal trade w/L.A., Non-intervention & non-interference by U.S., protection of U.S. citizens & property in L.A.

Question 15

Political Platform

Answer 15

President Juan Peron and his second wife Argentinean singer Eva Peron (Evita) Elected 1946-1952 –re-elected in 1952 until 1955 overthrown in a Coup d’état) elected in 1973 and died in 1974.

Question 16

Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act (June 12, 1934) & Pros and cons

Answer 16

The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act was signed into law on June 12, 1934 as part of the Roosevelt Administration’s efforts to pull America out of the Great Depression.
- Pros and cons = -It led to the end of U.S. marines occupation of Nicaragua in 1933, the occupation of Haiti in 1934, the annulment of the Platt Amendment in Cuba in 1934, and the
negotiation of compensation for the nationalization of foreign-owned oil assets in Mexico in 1938
-The 1939 New York World’s Fair was a great opportunity to continue promoting good neighborly relations with the region amid the Nazi threat. Many L.A. brought cultural awareness about their countries in the U.S.

Question 17

Cartoon “Three Caballeros” (Three countries represented)

Answer 17

U.S., Mexico, & Brazil…represented their alliance

Question 18

Authoritarian regimes (right wing) and support of the U.S. & Impact of these type of governments

Answer 18

Enforcing military control & social hierarchies. The U.S. supported this by replacing left-wing leaders with right-wing leaders in L.A.
- Impacted of these type of governments = Bigger gap between classes, gov’t has more control, citizens have less freedoms.

Question 19

Latin American Socialist revolutions

Answer 19

Mexico 1910, Bolivia 1952, Cuba 1959, and Nicaragua 1979. These social revolutions entailed a substantial, violent, and voluntarist struggle for political power and the overthrow of the established political, economic, social, and cultural orders.
Latin America socialist and communist movements, including those of Salvador Allende, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

Question 20

Cuban Revolution/ legacy

Answer 20

The immediate impact of the Cuban Revolution was the overthrow of Batista and the rise to power of the revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro. Cuba gradually became a communist government. The Cuban Revolution achieved major advances in health and education, though frankly sacrificing economic efficiency to social objectives (ex: fight against illiteracy).

Question 21

The Literacy Campaign video “Maestra” & Response by the U.S.

Answer 21

The 1961 campaign sent “literacy brigades,” or brigandistas, into the countryside to build schools and teach illiterate guajiros to read and write. The program brought basic literacy skills to 700,000 Cubans in less than one year and gave the Castro government a propaganda victory amid the Cold War. U.S. responded by attacking Cuba in the Bay of Pigs.

Question 22

Bay of Pigs (1961)

Answer 22

Failed invasion to try and overthrow leader Fidel Castro, 1,100 out of 1,500 Cuban exiles were captured

Question 23

Missile Crisis

Answer 23

Close moment to nuclear war between U.S. & Soviet Union

Question 24

Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (Video of the Grandmother Carlotto)

Answer 24

Mothers & Grandmothers of los desaparecidos and the children of los desaparecidos fight to find their disappeared family members. In addition, they want justice to be served for the people who are responsible for the disappearance & oftentimes murder of their children.

Question 25

Rigoberta Menchu (reading & video)

Answer 25

She fought for the rights & protection of indigenous people in Guatemala. She wanted labor & land reform. The gov’t didn’t support this movement and often responded with violence. She also won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Question 26

Yoani Sánchez - Blogger (reading & video)

Answer 26

She was a Cuban activist & blogger that uses social media to spread info. about governmental injustices/social issues/criticisms in Cuba. Gov’t in Cuba has made internet have restricted access especially when trying to view/publish politically controversial info.

Question 27

From the three cases (Women Involvement in social movements):
- Cultural Identity
- Political Consciousness
- Issues rose by these three cases
- Government response

Answer 27

Madres de la Plaza de Mayo (Argentina, not very active in gov’t before this), Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala, activist for indigenous), & Yaoni Sanchez (Cuba, uses social media to be an activist & fight against restricted access to info).

Question 28

Alliance for Progress (U.S. policy)

Answer 28

Establish economic corporation between U.S./L.A.
- Pros and Cons of this U.S. policy = Fight poverty (annual increase of 2.5% in per capita income); Social Educational programs (eliminate adult illiteracy); Economic & social planning for national development; Land reforms; Establish democratic gov’t; Fight communism

Question 29

Liberation Theology (Role of Latin American church leaders)

Answer 29

Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. It engages in socio-economic analyses, with social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples and addresses other forms of inequality, such as race or caste. New notion that the Church belongs at side of poor/oppressed, God speaks through poor; L.A. bishops met in Colombia to apply new liberal principles of Catholic Church; Opposition to dictatorship; Liberation theologians were criticized for replacing these bishops w/more conservative ones; Perceived as naively promoting Marxist ideology.

Question 30

End of Cold War

Answer 30

Fall of Socialism in Eastern Europe; No more support of socialist causes financed by Soviets or Eastern Block; Transition to more democratic policies.

Question 31

Neoliberalism

Answer 31

Neoliberalism is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as “eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers” and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity, state influence in the economy.
A theory of political economic practices that states that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms & skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free market, & free trade; People make their own economic choices; Cheap labor; Attraction for new transnational corporations.

Question 32

Pros & Cons of Neoliberalism

Answer 32

Pros
* Exports have grown greatly in some countries
(Mexico/Brazil/Chile)
* Free trade
* Liquidation of public sector debt
* GDP has increased
* Chile has been an economic success since 1990s
– Low inflation/good credit/steady
growth/diversified export
* The middle class have benefitted as consumers
* Competition/jobs

Cons
* High Unemployment rate
* Indigenous groups opposing trade agreement
(Zapatista movement)
* Environmental Issues
* Deregulation of capital flows (no control of how
much cash a multinational corporation can take
out of the country)
* Cheap labor (no benefits or protections)
* Gap in the income distribution (Achilles heel of
Latin American countries)

Question 33

Washington Consensus (Economic Policies)

Answer 33

Promote private enterprise, free market, rapid economic growth & free trade, relations based on trade not aid, privatize state run enterprises, elimination of subsidies programs (education/health/elderly), reduction of public employment, open economies to foreign investment, deregulation of market relations & human impact on the environment, elimination of protective tariffs.

Question 34

Regional Integration (Free Trade Agreements)

Answer 34

NAFTA (U.S./Mexico/Canada); MERCOSUR (Brazil/Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay/Venezuela; CAFTA (Costa Rica/El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras/Nicaragua/U.S./D.R.); CARICOM (The Caribbean except Cuba); CAN (Council of Andean nations).

Question 35

Social movements (EZLN)

Answer 35

Zapatista Army of National Liberation – After Mexican revolutionary leader Zapata = Inspired by Che Guevara, Declared war against Mexican state, military, & corporate business coming into Chiapas, mostly indigenous people, protested NAFTA & neoliberalism as they thought this would bring more inequality.

Question 36

Pink Tide (New Left: Evo Morales / Bolivia, Manuel Zelaya / Honduras, Daniel Ortega / Nicaragua, Hugo Chavez / Venezuela, Rafael Correa / Ecuador)

Answer 36

No longer Marxism as main ideological political front, religious practices accepted, social reforms emphasized (welfare), some capitalist ideals (free trade/foreign investment/privatization)

Question 37

ALBA Project

Answer 37

An alternative free trade agreement from the left, U.S./Mexico/Canada signed NAFTA so Venezuela/Cuba/Bolivia signed this to counteract; Venezuela = provide oil, Cuba = provide doctors, Bolivia = provide natural gas. A leftist approach (Pink Tide).

Question 38

Pros and Cons of ALBA Project

Answer 38

Pros= Venezuela = provide oil, Cuba = provide doctors, Bolivia = provide natural gas…other countries gained these resources.

Question 39

Popular Culture - Soccer

Answer 39

Brazil is passionate about soccer so they still host the World Cup even though they’re in a bad state. Takes funds away from necessary resources (hospitals, running water, electricity, education, sewage systems, homes, jobs, etc.). Public was angry that they continue to put money into large unnecessary stadiums over fixing poverty & social issues.

Question 40

Popular Culture - Green Gold

Answer 40

The Avocado War - Countries like Chile & Mexico get most of their revenue by exporting avocadoes. Their local populations have experienced negative impacts as a result including the drought of rivers & canals (no access to drinking water), criminal organizations wanting to profit off of avocado farmers so there was an increase in violence & kidnapping, corrupt local police.

Question 41

Film: “Even the Rain”

Answer 41

The recent true events that are depicted throughout the film is the chaos in local towns in Latin America. Officials and local police are corrupt and take away from the resources of the townspeople for their own benefits. The historical events being portrayed through this film is the Spanish conquest of indigenous lands in Latin America and how they enslaved the natives living there. They even included the historical figure of Bartolome de las Casas. During the 1500s las Casas was a young Catholic man that oversaw a plantation. These people of power were known as encomenderos. Later, las Casas completely changed his perspective and devoted the rest of his life to better the experience of native people and advocate for their right of freedom. A particular historical scene depicted in their film was of a famous sermon in 1511 by historical figure Fray Antonio de Montesinos which had Bartolome de las Casas in attendance. De Montesinos advocated that the native people are innocent and undeserving of the takeover of their land and enslavement.
This film highlights two contrasting indigenous movements at the same time. In the beginning of this course, we focused a lot on the conquest of Latin American lands by people like the Spaniards, which is what the film company is acting out in the film they’re creating. One reading we did that reflected on this time in history was Chasteen’s article “Introduction.” This reading spoke about the central conflict of Latin American history being the colonization done by Europeans. We even learned about the encomienda system and encomenderos in class which is what Bartolome de las Casas was previously involved in.
In modern time in this film, the corruption of police and officials impacting the local community negatively is being shown when police cut off access to a town well. We learned about this a lot throughout the second half of the semester when focusing on the outburst of fruit industries in Latin America. In class we studied how enforcement groups would infiltrate farmer’s orchards in order to try to increase their own revenue. Sometimes they would even kidnap relatives of farmers and only release them in exchange for money or acreage of their farmland.

Question 42

TED Talk by Mark Plotkin “What the people of the Amazon know that you don’t”

Answer 42

Tribal people have knowledge that we don’t. They have different methods of medicine, living, life, etc. They’re at harmony w/nature. It is beneficial to introduce tech. to contacted tribes so they can protect themselves & sustain their community. It’s important to prevent deforestation to maintain the lands of these people & keep them in isolation if they so choose.