During the period of 1910-1939, Latin America tried to modernize, in part through socialist revolutions and in part through trying to rid their economies of American intervention. A current of nationalism swept over many Latin American countries in response to constant foreign intervention. In 1910, for example, the Mexican Revolution broke out in opposition to the longtime dictator, Porfirio Diaz, who ruled with some short interruptions from 1876-1911. Diaz had invited foreign capital to Mexico...
During the period of 1910-1939, Latin America tried to modernize, in part through socialist revolutions and in part through trying to rid their economies of American intervention. A current of nationalism swept over many Latin American countries in response to constant foreign intervention. In 1910, for example, the Mexican Revolution broke out in opposition to the longtime dictator, Porfirio Diaz, who ruled with some short interruptions from 1876-1911. Diaz had invited foreign capital to Mexico and had tried to quash labor unions.
After Diaz said he would step down and then didn't, the forces of moderate Francisco Madero finally assumed control of Mexico in 1911. Though he tried to control the new forces of democracy being unleashed in Mexico, Madero could not and was eventually overthrown by Victoriano Huerta, who was supported by the United States. Eventually, Carranza came into power and wrote a new constitution in 1917. This constitution, still in effect, established civil rights for Mexicans and established a free compulsory public educational system, established the rights of the labor movement, put into effect agrarian reforms, and set curbs on the Catholic church. Other Latin American countries, such as Argentina under Hipolito Yrigoyen (who came to power in 1916), also had reform movements that allowed labor unions to strike and that established minimum wage laws, even as Yrigoyen cracked down on some labor and student movements.
Latin American countries also tried to modernize their economies through the process of import substitution industrialization, which meant replacing foreign imports with the products of domestic industry. In Mexico, President Lazaro Cardenas nationalized the oil industry, which had been largely controlled by Americans, into an entity called Pemex. In addition, the United Fruit Company, based in Boston, faced backlash in Colombia. Latin American nations tried to modernize and develop their own domestic industries in the period before World War II.
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