Transcript Latin America + The USA File

The USA, Mexico and
Latin America:
1970s + 1980s
Mexico: Background
1920s and 1930s

The Mexican Revolution:

By 1910, Mexico had been dominated by Porfirio
Diaz for 35 years.

Peasant revolution erupted fueled by the unequal
distribution of land and by disgruntled workers.

In 1910, Francisco Madero, along with Pancho
Villa and Emiliano Zapata, began a revolt that
would force Diaz to flee.
Mexico: Background
1920s and 1930s

Madero and Zapata would be assassinated.

A brutal 10 year struggle for control led to 1
million Mexican deaths = 10% of the population.
Mexico: Background
1920s - 1940s

By 1920, the revolution had ended and the new
leaders worked to restore political stability while
gradually pushing for democratic reform.

The greatest leader of this period was
President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-40)
under the Institutional Revolutionary Party
(PRI).
Mexico: Background
1920s - 1940s

The government began to recast the national
image away from the Latin history of Mexico and
toward its Amerindian heritage (Aztecs and
Mayans).
Mexico, the USA
+ WWII

In Mexico and throughout Latin America, Franklin
Roosevelt's “Good Neighbour Policy” was
necessary at such a delicate time.
Mexico, the USA
+ WWII

Although most American countries eventually
entered the war on the Allies' side, Mexico and
Brazil were the only Latin American nations that
sent troops to fight overseas during World War
II.
Mexico, the USA
+ WWII

Opportunity for many thousands of Mexicans
to work in the USA in support of the war effort
+ granted them an opportunity to gain US
citizenship by enlisting in the military.
Vive Mexico!
1940-1970

Starting in the 1940s, immigration into the cities
swelled the country's urban population.

Mexico experienced impressive economic growth,
an achievement historians call "El Milagro
Mexicano," the Mexican Economic Miracle.
Vive Mexico!
1940-1970

The Mexican Economic Miracle was solidly
rooted in government policy:

1) an emphasis on primary industry.

2) high tariffs on imported domestic goods.

3) public investment in agriculture, energy, and
transportation infrastructure.
Economic Crisis: 1980s

Economic crises swept the country in 1976 and
1982, leading to the nationalization of Mexico's
banks, which were blamed for the economic
problems.
Economic Crisis: 1980s

On both occasions, the Mexican peso was
devalued, and, until 2000, it was normal to expect
a big devaluation and recession at the end of
each presidential term.

The "December Mistake" crisis threw Mexico
into economic turmoil—the worst recession in
over half a century.
The Shake Up

The 1985 Earthquake: On 19 September 1985,
an earthquake (8.1 on the Richter scale) struck
Michoacán, inflicting severe damage on Mexico
City.

Estimates of the number of dead range from
6,500 to 30,000.
The Shake Up

Public anger at the PRI's mishandling of relief
efforts combined with the ongoing economic
crisis led to a substantial weakening of the PRI.

As result, for the first time since the 1930s, the
ruling government began to face serious
electoral challenges = unstable government.
Mexico: 1980s

A huge increase in population and rising
inflation plagued Mexico.

Many U.S. corporations established
manufacturing plants in Mexico; however, low
wages only helped widen the gap between the
poor and the rich.
Mexico: 1980s

Millions of illegal Mexican immigrants and
seasonal workers crossed into the United
States.

A huge drug traffic from Mexico to the U.S.
flourished.
The U.S. in the
1970s: The Economy

The U.S. gave up the war in Vietnam.

The economy was drained by the war and
experienced high unemployment and a rising
rate of inflation.
The U.S. in the
1970s: The Economy

Energy prices skyrocketed and an Iranian oil
embargo turned it into an energy crisis.

The U.S. automobile industry declined as
consumers turned to small, energy-efficient
Japanese imports.
The U.S. in the 1970s:
The Government

President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 after
the Watergate Scandal in which he obstructed
justice by covering up a Republican Party break-in
of Democratic headquarters.
The U.S. in the 1970s:
The Government

Gerald Ford (1973-77) succeeded him and
granted Nixon a pardon.

The public grew to distrust government and
elected an “outsider” in Jimmy Carter (197781).
The U.S. in the 1970s:
The Government

President Carter could not improve the
economy:

Inflation, slow growth, and high unemployment
became stagflation and Republicans began to
track the “misery index”.
The U.S. in the 1970s:
The Government

The Americans of the 1970s became the “me
generation”:

College students concentrated on getting good
grades in order to survive in a tightening
economy.

Not interested in social concerns or national or
international issues.
The U.S. in the 1980s:
The Government

Ronald Reagan united economic and cultural
conservatives to win the White House in 19811989.
The U.S. in the 1980s:
The Government

“Government was the problem, not the
solution”:

Congress slashed support for the poor (food
stamps, school lunches, & Medicaid).

Biggest tax cut in the nation’s history.

Major increase in military spending.
The U.S. in the 1980s:
The Government/Economy

Economic results were mixed:

Inflation dropped sharply.

People in poverty increased & unemployment
rate grew to over 10%.
The U.S. in the 1980s:
The Government/Economy

The economy did recover and unemployment
dropped; however, many of these jobs were
low-paying with few fringe benefits.

The national debt soared with the combination
of tax cuts and military increases.
The U.S. in the 1980s:
Society

“Yuppies” or young urban professionals were
concerned with their private lives rather than
public issues.

Upper-middle-class standard of living
depended on both husband and wife holding
full-time jobs.
The U.S. in the 1980s:
Society

Problems: Cocaine addiction; crime; and AIDS.

Campaigns: started against drunk driving and
tobacco smoking.
Brazil, Argentina,
& Chile

In all three countries the military ousted civilian
governments and took control.

These repressive regimes (especially General
Augusto Pinochet in Chile) imprisoned, tortured,
and killed thousands of people.
Brazil, Argentina,
& Chile

Floundering economies and massive foreign
debt would eventually force the restoration of
civilian governments.

Argentina would fight a war with Great Britain in
1982 over the Falkland Islands = Falklands War.
Urban Poverty

Latin America became the most urbanized of
the three impoverished world areas (73%;
Asia, 33%;Africa 34%).

Mexico City became the world’s largest
city with over 20 million.
Urban Poverty

The poor lived in shantytowns on the edge of
cities, while the middle class and the elite
remained in city centers.
The Cold War Returns to
Latin America

In 1983, the U.S. invaded the tiny island of
Grenada to topple a pro-Castro regime.
The Cold War Returns to
Latin America

In 1978, President Carter negotiated a treaty for
the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Panama
Canal by 2000.

In 1990, the U.S. invaded Panama and arrested
and imprisoned dictator Manuel Noriega for
drug trafficking and installed a pro-U.S.
government in Panama.
The Cold War Returns
to Latin America

Guerrilla warfare broke out in Nicaragua, El
Salvador, and Guatemala:

In Nicaragua, Sandinistas (Sandinistas National
Liberation Front is a socialist political) took
control of the government in 1979 from dictator
Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
The Cold War Returns
to Latin America

Reagan considered them a Marxist ally of Cuba
and the US supported Contras (rebel group of
Anti-Sandinista Nicaraguans).

However, U.S. congressional support wavered.
The Cold War Returns
to Latin America

In 1989, free elections were held and both the
Sandinistas and Contras disbanded.

On July 19, 1989, a new government was
proclaimed under a provisional junta military
dictatorship) headed by 35-year-old Daniel
Ortega.
El Salvador

The Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992) was
predominantly fought between the government
of El Salvador and a coalition of four leftist
groups and one communist group known as
the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
(FMLN).

Approximately 75,000 people were killed in the
war.
El Salvador

The civil war was fought in the context of the
global Cold War, with the United States backing
the right wing military Salvadoran
government.

The United States is reputed to have poured
some 5 billion dollars into the war.
Guatemala

The Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996) began
as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist
and military usurpation of civil government
(state and public institutions), and the
dictatorship's disrespect for the human and
civil rights of the majority of the population.
Guatemala

The 1970s saw the birth of two new guerrilla
organizations:
• The Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP).
• The Organization of the People in Arms
(ORPA).
Guatemala

Guerrilla attacks included urban and rural
guerrilla warfare, mainly against the military
and some of the civilian supporters of the
army.
Guatemala

In 1979, the U.S. president, Jimmy Carter,
ordered a ban on all military aid to the
Guatemalan Army because of the widespread
and systematic abuse of human rights.