Forces Shaping Modern Latin America 24.1

A Diverse Region Latin America stretches across an immense region from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean through South America. It includes 33 independent countries that range from tiny island nations like Grenade and Haiti to giant Brazil, which is almost as large as the United States Conquest, immigration, and intermarriage made Latin America culturally diverse. After 1492, Europeans imposed their civilization on Native Americans.

Social Structure In cost countries, a tiny elite controlled the land, mines, business, and factories. Poverty was linked to the social structure that had survived since colonial times. By the mid 1900’s, two social classes were emerging as important forces.

Population and Poverty Between 1930 and 1985, the population of both Brazil and Mexico increased by more than four times. Growth rates in some countries slowed during the 1990s, but economies were still hard pressed to keep pace with population. Latin America’s population reached 400 million in 1990 and exceeded 600 million in 2000.

Urbanization Pressure on the land contributed the great migration that sent millions of peasants to the cities. Today, about 70 percent of all Latin Americans live in cities. Poor city children were sometimes in a better position to move ahead than rural children.

Competing Ideologies After World War II, various groups pressed for reforms. They included liberals, socialists, students, labor leaders, peasant organizers, the Catholic priests and nuns. Conservative forces, however, resisted reforms that might undermine their power.

Military Regimes Military leaders, like caudillos of the 1800s, held power in many Latin American nations. In the 1960s and 1970s, as social unrest increased, military governments seized power in Argentina, Brazil, Chile. In Chile, General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled form 1973 to 1990, promoted foreign investment and privatized industry.

Revival of Democracy By the mid 1980’s, inflation, debt, and growing protests led repressive leaders to step aside. As the twenty-first century began, the only major nonelected ruler in Latin America was Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Still, elections alone could not ensure a truly democratic government.

Industry To reduce independence on imported goods, many Latin American governments encouraged the development of local industries. The industry did not expand rapidly enough to produce new jobs for a rapidly growing population.

Expanding Agriculture Over the past 60 years, large areas of land were opened up for farming through irrigation and the clearing of forests. In Central America and Brazil, developers cleared tropical forests to provide new farmlands.

Economic Challenges In the 1980s, Latin American nations were shaken by economic storms, including high oil costs, rising interest rates, and a global recession. Since the 1990s, Latin American governments have strengthened regional free trade blocs.

Women Through the 1900s, Latin American women worked hard to increase their role in public life and to win equality, including the right to vote. By 1961, women had won the vote throughout the Americas. By the 1990s, women moved into the political arena in small but growing numbers.

Religion During the 1960s and 1970s, many priests, nuns, and church workers crusaded for social justice and an end to poverty. Some evangelical Protestant groups won a growing following among the poor.