History of Latin America: The Colonial to Contemporary Period Essay

The bill of Latin the States screw only be understood in its relations with other(a) countries and continents. atomic number 63 and Anglo-the States play a huge role in shaping the recital of Latin the States from pre-colonial times to the contemporary period. The expansionist policies of colonizing countries clearly meddled with the write up of Latin America. This is seen in the longstanding st newfangledman of dominant countries in the continent. The do of these forces can be seen in the economy, politics, culture and tale of Latin America.Interestingly, delineate Latin America by compriseing its history is a monumental task. For one, Latin America is not a homogenous continent. It is an immense field division striving to establish its issue in the new global clubhouse it is home to some 500 million plenty who well even out the rich racial and cultural diversity of the human family (Vanden and Prevost 1). Rather than give in Latin American history in the traditiona l historical textiledates, geography, political successionswhich is linear in nature, this essay resonates Eduardo Galeanos depiction of Latin American history.This presentation is based on a number of facets of history that atomic number 18 suitable images of what Latin American peoples had collectively undergone. This essay seeks to present the history of Latin America from the colonial to contemporary period. Given the large scope of the regions history, specific thematic spheres be central discussion points in this essay. The discussion will focus in term of thraldom, foreign domination, agriculture structure, foreign debt, living standards and neo-liberalism. Lastly, the conclusion presents a synthesized weigh of Latin Americas history.Slavery One phenomenon collectively undergo by Latin America is slavery. The main reason for the use up of colonizers in Latin America is economic in nature. Slavery is a actor of production whereby the mass production of goods from th e colonizing countries would tolerate unaffectionate labor. Intensifying the crown would translate to a corresponding increase of productivity for the colonizer. Slavery took place almost immediately after the invasion of Latin American countries.It is buttoned to the new law and order promulgated by the ones in the citadel of power. Modem day transatlantic slave trade dated from 1519 to 1867 by 1530 the Spanish crown had authorized the spread of slavery to Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica (Vanden and Prevost 33). The colonizers of Europe and the US had the actualization that new laborers, artisans, and those with other skills could add to the growing nations (8). This means that slavery crept by dint of the entire continent, every colonizer followed suitfearing of lagging behind the economies of colonizers that ar founded on slave laborsince then others know already espouse the practice of slavery.In the movie Burn, the island of Queimada is ravaged with unscrupulous practice s of production. Slaves were used in the sugar shewations and manufacturing plants so that the profits ar maximized (Burn 1969). Although, there atomic number 18 diverse forms of slavery within Latin America and in some countries, slavery as a tool for economic production even failed. The courting of Brazil and the Carribean showed that resistance to slavery can be successful. In Federal Brazil and the Caribbean, native slavery failed, and the native peoples would not otherwise set up the abundant labor needed (Vanden and Prevost 32).Foreign Domination Pre-colonial Latin America is isolated in nature the economies there were small local spheres that argon isolated from events outside the valley, village or small town. (146) Civilizations such as the Mayan, Mohican, etc. contributed to the breakdown of isolationism, although the collapse is only in economic cost and is limited only to the region. Less centralized societies existed before the foreign presence in the region an d had been self-sustaining for centuries. Latin American integration into the human beings economy only began when the Europeans arrived (146).During the period of foreign domination, the breakdown of autonomy of the diametric facets of society became a massive and all-encompassing insurance. Politics, culture, economics, social order, law and regime are all key positions held by foreign powers. The relationship amidst the empire and colonies is similar to the relationship of the slaves to their masters. Core-periphery relationship enabled the rich empires to continually break away at the expense of the peripheries. The decisions on resources, politics and all over-all direction of the Latin America are done on foreign soil.Galeano points out that the expansionist policy of foreign colonizers had a push and a pull actor. The push factor is the proclivity of colonizers for glory. The first of the conquerors that came to Latin America are the Europeans notably the Spanish. Ini tially, the desire for glory drove explorers to different expeditions of other lands. The pull factor is the allurement of the expeditionary forces to the vast riches of the region. After the reports of the riches of the empire to the to the south had reached the Spanish settlement in Panama, considerable interest in subjugation developed.Eventually, the Spanish came back with its conquistadores (Galeano 27). The rest, as we now know from hindsight, is history. Agriculture outturn Agricultural production in the Latin America became the fuel for ontogenesis of the imperial global food market. At the same time, directly or indirectly but decisively, it spurred the growth of Dutch, French, English and United States industry. The imply for sugar produced the plantation, an go-ahead motivated by profit and placed at the service of the multinational market that Europe is organizing. (Galeano 72). Agriculture production policies of the imperial powers deliberately shifted from pocke t-size farming into monocrop economies. As national economies developed, regions and often whole nations became dedicated to monoculture fealty to one crop or commodity. (Vanden and Prevost 151). Colombia and El Salvador focused on marketing coffee on the international market, Mexico and Venezuela were dependent on the petroleum commodity, Bolivia pertain on tin. Coffee and bananas became the biggest agricultural products of Central America.From being self-sufficient agricultures, where people nourished themselves on a balanced diet consisting of beans, corn, and squash, (Vanden and Prevost 19), the shift into agro-industries is triggered by the principle of comparative advantage on the international market. Latin America at this point became a good source of raw materials and nourishment for the imperialist states. The priority of agriculture in peripheries is always the self-serving interest of the US and Europe. While Brazil prospered due to its exports of sugarcane monocult ure, the nations children ironically starved.Abundance and prosperity came hand in hand with chronic malnutrition and misery for most of the population (Galeano 75). Foreign Debt At present Jamaica owes over $4. 5 billion to the IMF, the world Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) among other international lending agencies yet the significant development that these loans have guaranteed have yet to manifest. The amounts of foreign exchange together with the structural limiting policies have had a negative impact in the life of everybody.In some other part of the movie, we can see the history of a chicken plant which had a good business selling high-quality chicken to the internal Jamaica market but this business has been demoralize by U. S. while there are a lot of restriction on foods and goods imported into the U. S. there are regularly no restrictions on foods and goods exported to foreign developing country. (Life and Debt 2001). Jamaica is not alone in its d ebt crisis. After the shift from colonialism to the independence of Latin America, the new world order shifted its principles from liberalism to a neo-liberal, neo-colonial system.Virtually all of Latin America is on the throes of economic dependence on international financial institutions, namely the IMF and World Bank. The loans do not come without strings attached to it. Structural adjustment programs and stringent conditionalities essentially limit the capability of Latin America to vie at the global market. For instance, produce from Third World countries such as that in Latin America are penalized with tariffs and quotas as they enter number one World markets, while completed products of the US and Europe find their street corner market in the Third World. The free play of supply and demand does not exist on the international market, the reality is a shogunate of one group over the other (Galeano 259).Conclusion world(a) stinting Hegemony The alienation of the peoples of L atin America, their sufferings and collective aspirations juxtaposed with the injustices experienced within its history are the prime reasons for the regions revolutionary and bloody history. From slavery, to feudalism, to mercantilism, to capitalism, the world order had changed via neo-liberalism, neo-colonialism and globalization.Sadly, no(prenominal) of these modes of production had effectively benefitted Latin America. These different economic historical periods are only different forms of the same thinginequalities, poverty, human rights abuses and a omnium-gatherum of problems that hound Latin America today. Since the colonial period, the grips of powerful nation states had never loosened on Latin America. It is a good source of raw materials, with cheap labor and also a good market for finished products.The international economic structures enabled economic policy recommendations that are dominated by orthodox capitalist economic thinking (Vanden and Prevost 165). Inequalit ies continue to exist and are even presented in smokescreens such as Free Trade, which is not free after all. The Global northward competing in the international market against the Global South is a very one-sided economic structure that benefits the North at the expense of the South.The contemporary global economic hegemony is essential for the US and Europe, it is essential for their survival. Globalization shrank the world into a smaller entity but the international economy is still run by colonial powers. 21st light speed domination of the world does not come in barbaric way, the methods of obsession and domination are subtle yet they are as wild and deadly as before. What had happened for the past centuries is an enslavement of Latin America and a raping of humanity by colonizers.