FELIX ZHONG – History 3072, History of Modern Latin America

United States Relationship with Latin America from the 19th-20th Century

1846-1848 Mexican American War: During the 19th Century, United States were set on their Manifest Destiny, to continue expanding westward until they could reach the Pacific Ocean. Mexico had previously allowed non-Spanish people to settle in Texas. This would lead to settlers wanted to make Texas independent from Mexico. Mexico would refuse and Texas would seek help from the United States. The U.S saw this as an opportunity and offered to buy Texas from Mexico, but was refused. The dispute would then lead to U.S going into war with Mexico with U.S winning the war and Texas.

April 1898 – December 1898 Spanish-American War: On April 21st, 1898, United States would declare war against Spain. The two biggest reasons for war was first, America’s support for Cubans and Filipinos against the Spanish, and second, the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. The United States would make quick work of Spanish with the war ending in less than a year with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

1881-1904/1904-1914 Building of the Panama Canal: The building of Panama Canal started in 1881, but it wasn’t until 1904 that the United States took over the construction. After it was completed, Panama Canal was controlled soley by the US and it wasn’t until 1999 that Panama would have complete control over the canal.

July 1927 Augusto Sandino: Augusto Sandino was a Nicaraguan loyalist who stood against the United State’s attempt to consume Nicaragua. The US’s plan was to “help” build a canal in Nicaragua so that trading would be easier. However, Sandino saw this as a plot by the US to further their hold over the country. Sandino would in turn suggest a plan that benefited their own country over the United States, this was to make the side of Latin America pay for half the canal and the other half would be paid by foreign countries who wished to use the canal. Nicaragua would also be able to hold the right to receive tariffs.

1947-1991 Cold War: The Cold War was a time period where there was a clash of ideologies by two powerhouses, the United States and Russia. Their battles would generally be through proxy wars where both sides would try to help certain countries to lean towards their standing, democracy vs communism.

1940’s-1960’s Green Revolution: The Green Revolution was a time period in which Mexico would undergo modernization in their agriculture. With the help of the United State’s Rockefeller Foundation, farmers in Mexico would use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The heavy use of these chemicals would lead to health issues with worse case scenarios being death. This would lead to further research and the development of “plant breeding” which was using new generation of crop seeds to produce a higher yield under specific circumstances.

Protecting the Amazon

Back during the the 1980’s and 1990’s when Brazil was undergoing modernization, the government had tried to cut down parts of the Amazon bit by bit for economic development. People such as Chico Mendes who was a rubber tapper, union leader and environmentalist would attempt to stand against the government. On, December 22, 1988, Mendes would end up being the 19th activist to be murdered the same year. What people have stood and fought for decades ago, newly voted president of the United States, Joe Biden, would stand to help join the cause as well. Biden announced he would join the Paris climate accord and to make environment a foreign policy priority. Biden also stated he would start with a $20 billion international fund in an attempt to stop Brazil from further “tearing down the forest.” His warning would be that if Brazil failed to do that, the would face “significant economic consequences.” This stand by Biden is a complete flip from what previous US President Donald Trump had stood for. During Trump’s presidency, he had withdrawn from Paris climate accord and was silent towards about the Amazon. Now that Biden is onboard, people such as Virgilio Viana, a former state environment secretary who heads the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation said, “There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-win-raises-pressure-on-brazils-bolsonaro-to-protect-amazon-11607346002

Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=5743856.

Cold War – Vice President Nixon and Fidel Castro

The Cold War was a time period not of fighting, rather a clash of ideologies from existing countries. The two powerhouses at the time were the United States of America who stood for democracy and Russia who stood for communism. Their battles were never directly towards each other, rather it was indirect through proxy wars where the two powerhouses would try to help specific countries lean towards their standing.

During April 25th of 1959, Fidel Castro had met with Vice President Richard Nixon. Nixon questioned Castro as to why he went against the U.S imperialism. Castro would reply that he did it for the people of Cuba. Castro felt that by leading a revolution against the American government in Cuba, he would be able to give a better life to the people. “The Revolution taught the illiterate to read, provided healthcare to the poor, and reshaped the Cuban economy in spite of a crippling blockade” (Dawson, 243). In the moment, Castro felt that there needed to be a change in order to better the lives of the people, so he chose to go against the U.S to accomplish this.

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=4329957-Document-10-Memorandum-of-Conversation-Rough

Alexander Dawson, Latin America Since Independence: A History with Primary Sources, (New York: Routledge, 2015)

The Church vs Liberals

The picture I chose is a church, to represent The Church. During the 1840’s, there were two political groups in Latin America, Conservatives and Liberals. Conservatives were a group that believed the government should have the power to tell people what they could do. On the other hand, Liberals believed that people should be treated equally and have the freedom to do what they wanted to do. Knowing the beliefs of both groups, The Church chose to join the Conservatives. The biggest reason The Church chose to join the Conservatives was because they wanted to be able to maintain their power over the people. They wanted to merge religion and politics together. Using their “power” about God, The Church felt everyone should only do what God tells them to do. Their objective on how to rule over the people was completely different from how Liberals felt. This conflict between the two political parties would lead to many reforms in an attempt to reshape how the government worked. In the end, the differences between the two were just too great that it would lead to a civil war during the 1850’s and ending early 1860’s with Liberals coming out on top. Since The Church had chose to side with Conservatives, when the Liberals won, The Church and the Conservatives would both end up losing power over the people. Under new reforms, previous property owned by The Church would be confiscated except for places that allowed people to worship.

Module 1 Assignment

Simon Bolivar was a leader for Latin America who fought for independence against the Spanish. His goal was to free Latin America from the Spanish’s rule. In order to achieve his goal, Bolivar knew he had to root out the Spanish’s culture of owning slaves. Back in Spain, slavery was nothing new to their people, however in Latin America, it was not viewed in a good light. Bolivar did not see eye to eye with Spain on slavery in Latin America and decided to go against slavery. Time after time, Bolivar would voice his negative view on slavery to Spain but every time, he would get rejected because to Spain, Latin America as a whole was a cash crop. Latin America provided all sorts of goods that Spain could profit off of and wanted to keep gaining. While Spain continued to rule Latin America with an iron fist, the anger of the people also built up. It was this anger that Bolivar used to unite and defy the Spanish rule. In the end, Simon Bolivar was able to help free Latin America from Spain, earning the name “The Liberator.”

Simon Bolivar was not perfect either. On one side he fought for Latin America because of how Spain treated people who weren’t Spaniards. On the other, he also treated Spaniards unequally such as, any Spaniards that committed a crime would be labeled “traitor” and would be shot. Latin Americans meanwhile would be pardoned. While Bolivar fought for independence because of how Spain treated Latin Americans, he was also similar to the Spanish. In the end, there is no such thing as a perfect leader, it all depends on which side you look at.