MARIA RIVADENEIRA – History 3072, History of Modern Latin America

Cuban History

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Venezuela Votes in an Election the Opposition Calls a Charade

Throughout Latin America, all people agree with an argument difficult to contradict; Venezuela is a clear example of the chaos and misery created by “21st-century socialism.” As time goes by and each time news is heard from Venezuela, the uncertainty of the Venezuelan people is confirmed by living in a country where there is no democracy and corruption abounds. This is the case of the last elections in Venezuela, last Sunday, December 7, where citizens voted to choose the new assembly. Nicolas Maduro, the Chavista leader who has governed Venezuela since 2013, claimed victory for his party, thus prolonging his absolute power in government. For the vast majority of the population, these elections once again represent fraud on a larger scale and an act riddled with irregularities. In a country where authoritarianism and oppression have reigned for several years, it is not difficult to understand how the current government manipulates the election results and intimidates a people through blackmail. This was once again the case that occurred this Sunday.

The state of apathy of the Venezuelans for these past elections was a sentiment shared by many when they did not trust the legitimacy of the elections and opted instead not to go out to exercise the right to vote. Maduro’s threatening words were forceful when declaring that “those who don’t vote, won’t eat.” The shortages of food, essential products, and medicines have caused these intimidations by the Chavista government to create fear in the society of suffering reprisals for not favoring Maduro’s party. Furthermore, the lack of support from countries such as the United States, Europe, and several Latin American countries in the fight to overthrow Maduro has left Venezuelans hopeless, in search of justice in a country corrupted by an arbitrary dictatorship.

In 1998 Hugo Chavez would become the constitutional president of Venezuela, promising great changes in the economy and social justice. The alliance that he forged with Fidel Castro at the beginning of his presidency would make the country little by little cut off relations with the United States, one of its main commercial allies. Chavez, considering Castro as his political mentor, acquired a socialist model and began his fight against imperialism. I implement authoritarian measures and limit freedom of expression. The struggle against capitalism made Chavez join other Latin American presidents such as Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Cristina Kirshner among others to create what they would call “21st-century socialism”, based on the vision of Simon Bolivar to create a Latin America without borders.

The results of the last elections reflect the years of a corrupt system where Chavismo continues to perpetuate itself in power since 1998. The example of Venezuela allows Latin American countries to know their history and learn from the mistakes that led to misery.

WORK CITED

Letter to President Kennedy during the Cold War Era

During the Cold War era, there were tense moments between the United States and the Soviet Union but, none other like the Cuban Revolution. In the years following the Cuban Revolution, certain events made the situation escalate to a point where it could have triggered a greater conflict between these two powerful nations. We can study in-depth these historical events and discover different primary sources related to this topic on the National Security Archive website where I had the opportunity to find, after intensive research, a document named “Eyes Only for the President” written by Richard N. Goodwin, advisor to then-President John F. Kennedy, on November 1, 1961. In this document, we can perceive the urgency in Goodwin’s words to create an effective plan for an armed intervention to overthrow dictator Fidel Castro who represented a threat to the national security of this nation. In this letter to President Kennedy, Goodwin emphasizes the importance of designing a project in extreme secrecy, to solve the recurrent problem of communism in Cuba which could eventually affect all parts of Latin America.

Fidel Castro, along with Ernesto “Che” Guevara, led what it would be known as the Cuban Revolution at the end of the 1950s, overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista and ultimately proclaiming Castro the new absolute leader of Cuba. Castro and “El Che” were convinced that the best solution to the current situation in Cuba was to declare independence over the evilness of imperialism. To achieve this, new reformations were immediately implemented in the island, such as authoritarian power, nationalization of private companies, and social equality inspired by Leninist-Marxist ideas. with that Cuba could be a government autonomous and not a colony manipulated by imperialism. Castro, in his speeches, declared that even before the revolution, all the social and economic problems of Cuba and Latin America had a name, and it was the United States. This country, since the beginning of the 20th century, had taken advantage of the vulnerability of all Latin American governments to impose its laws through intimidation that only benefited the US government while impoverishing the peoples of Latin America.

In Cuba in 1901, after the Spanish-American War, an amendment named the Plat Amendment was created in the Cuban constitution to give the United States the right to intervene in Cuba when necessary. For many years after this amendment was created, the United States greatly influenced the island’s politics while gaining control of the economy, creating social inequality, a lack of labor rights, and overall discontent in the society. Fidel Castro’s acknowledged these issues and saw the opportunity to make a revolution that would change the political history of Cuba. He believed that communism was the only reliable method to solve the current situation therefore, he decided to ally with the Soviet Union in hopes of gaining more power. The alliance between the Soviet Union and Cuba deeply concerned the US government, which saw this union as a threat to national security but, more importantly, a threat to the democracy of all Latin American nations.

In April 1961, the US government led the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. This invasion failed and, with that, the opportunity to liberate the Cuban people from the oppression and authoritarianism of Castro. Richard Goodwin, on November 1, 1961, months after the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, wrote in his memorandum to President Kennedy persuading him to continue in the efforts of collaborating to carry out another mission to overthrow Castro and stop the spread of communism in Latin America. Goodwin, in this document, highlights three major points; The next mission will have to have a leader, an action plan, and everything must be handled with confidentiality to ensure victory.

In conclusion, this primary source teaches us how important was for the United States to protect and fight for the democracy of all Latin American nations. Cuba was taking a challenging position in the eyes of this country for this reason new measures had to be implemented to put an end to this regime.

Work Cited

Wood, James A. and Anna Rose Alexander, editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5^th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Document link: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=6434683-National-Security-Archive-Doc-07-White-House

National Security Archive “White House, Richard N. Goodwin, Memorandum, Eyes Only for the President, November 1, 1961

EUROPEAN INFLUENCE IN BUENOS AIRES

Tulane University Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. “Colon Theatre”. The Latin American Library. https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A11605

During the rise of liberalism throughout Latin America in the late 19th century, some nations adopted European ideologies that later will greatly influence in politics and society. Leaders and social representatives believed the idea that the best way to create a more organized and centralized government was by following the ideals of European thinkers. One of the strategies used to achieve this was to encourage Europeans to migrate to Latin American cities and making the society homogeneous implementing at the same time a new identity. The proposal was to create a modern and unified government which will extend major changes in politics, infrastructure, and culture in these nations under the principle of social evolution.

One of the places that is the representation of this new era of progress is the Colon Theatre. The Colon Theatre is an opera house located in Buenos Aires, built in the year 1857. It operated from its opening until 1888, closing its doors temporarily to be renovated and later reopened in 1908. As seen in this image dated from the end of the 19th century, the Colon Theatre or Teatro Colon has a sophisticated style never seen in an architecture built in Latin America. Its façade and gardens reflect the Parisian style and resemble any of the big opera houses of Europe. I had the great privilege when I was younger to visit this imposing place so important for the Argentine culture and to learn what a great symbol it has been to the history of the country. Every decoration and structure inside the opera house imitates the European aristocratic style creating a perfect atmosphere for Buenos Aires elites. At the end of the 19th century, one of the manifestations of superiority and progress for a country was when its cities were architecturally like Paris. In the case of Buenos Aires, new constructions were changing the geography of the city causing it to lose its native roots to give way to a new cosmopolitan city. From the social standpoint, the new doctrines of progress acquired by the government denoted racism towards indigenous people and mestizos. Under these new doctrines, the indigenous and mestizos were marginalized considering them second-class citizens and forbidding them to live in the city and depriving them of their lands. Instead, the government offered European immigrants to populate the city and its surroundings. This period of development and economic prosperity for Argentina was reached by austere measures that mainly affected the most vulnerable social groups. In turn, the country opened its doors to capitalism by trading with countries like the United States and England and industrializing its resources. The construction of railroads throughout the country and telegraph lines made the country to climb to a level of modernization unique for its time. In a few years, Argentina had been transformed through radical policies into one of the most prosperous countries in the world, although at great cost to its citizens.

Two faces can be seen in this period of Argentine history. On the one hand you can see the development and opulence achieved through progressive political ideas that led the country to prosperity as we see represented in the most important building in Buenos Aires, the Colon Theater. However, what little is said is that the cost to society was very high, racism, segregation, genocide, and slavery.

Work Cited

James A. Wood and Anna Rose Alexander, “Problems in Modern Latin American History”, 5^th edition, pages 131-135.
https://teatrocolon.org.ar/en/theater/theater

Mulattoes in Quito

Images of Spanish America from 1801-1850

When I found this painting and saw the place it represented (Quito) I couldn’t help but relate it to the story of Angela Batallas since both took place in what is now known as the Republic of Ecuador. In this week’s readings, I was able to learn about the life of Angela Batallas, a slave whose goal was to be free. Her desire for freedom led her to have an illicit relationship with her master, Idelfonso Coronel, who promised to free her. Angela agreed to be Coronel’s mistress in order to gain freedom and be independent of the oppression she suffered all her life. However, after becoming pregnant and giving birth to Coronel’s son, the promise of freedom came to nothing. Angela Batallas was disappointed with Coronel’s forgotten promise and decided instead to find a way for Coronel to grant her freemdom. She managed to have an audience with Simon Bolivar El Libertador with the purpose of presenting her case. He wanted Bolivar to advocate for her and to convince Coronel to keep his promise of freedom. Meanwhile, she mobilized and found witnesses who testified in her favor and sought representation from a lawyer. All this was a example of the discontent that Angela Batallas suffered and the desire to live in free. Possibly Angela’s decision to appear before Bolivar was to expose the reality that many people like her lived at that time, oppressed and unable to speak up. In the story of Angela Batallas we can see the oppression suffered by slaves and mulattos in the colonies. The painting “Mulattoes of Quito” and story of Angela Batallas have something in common, both represent a part of the society that is marginalized. Just as in Phillips’s painting, mulattoes turn their backs on a society that has forgotten them.