Latin American Revolutions: Socio-Political Transformations and Upheavals
Latin American Revolutions
Latin America was not immune to the global reality of rapid changes around the world: the Cold War, the bipolar world, communism, the arms race, capitalism, the revolutionary atmosphere, and dictatorships were also protagonists in the reality of its people.
In Latin America, the evolution was slow. Many still saw Subcomandante Marcos as a new Che Guevara, when in fact, while Che was a revolutionary hero, Marcos wanted to reaffirm democracy and defend the Maya identity. The intellectual world resisted the democratic idea for a long time, sometimes for good reasons, when the democratic issue was effectively used to protect dominant interests.
The financial crisis of the 1930s had an impact not only economically but also socially and politically, empowering the leading figures of coups, the armed forces, and armies.
In the period 1930-1945, Latin America went through a populist period that tried to solve economic problems, even though deep down there was strong conservative authoritarianism. Social changes were pushed by countless strikes demanding more democracy.
Social classes gradually changed, strengthening the middle class and leading to strong internal migrations that developed major cities, highlighting the capital of each nation.
Ideological movements were permeated by nationalist ideas influenced by socialism and fascism with a marked imperialist accent. Popular leaders such as Getúlio Vargas in Brazil and Juan Domingo Perón in Argentina stood out, as did popular movements such as APRA, the Paraguayan Febrerista movement, Brazilian Integralism, and Mexican Synarchism. This period also featured the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay (Spanish link).
The period 1945-1975 saw two nationalist projects: the neoconservative and the neo-populist. The first trend favored economic growth, modernization of society, and the participation of foreign capital, benefiting the middle and upper classes (industrial bourgeoisie and landlords). The second sought greater state control and increased attention to the popular classes.
In 1948, the Organization of American States (OAS) was established. The end of World War II sowed more ideas of democracy and development, and this group of developers and nationalists included Chilean democratic populism, Democratic Action of Rómulo Betancourt in Venezuela, and the National-Populism COPEI in Peru.
In 1958, the Cuban Revolution triumphed, highlighting figures like Camilo Cienfuegos (1932-1959) and Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-1967). In 1961, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, the USA started an economic blockade, and Fidel Castro (1927-) proclaimed Cuba a socialist state.
The Cuban Revolution had great political influence in Latin America since 1960. For many intellectuals, Cuba was the way forward, and Cuba was open to exporting its revolution. The island served as a rear and center for training and instruction for Latin American revolutionaries and guerrillas.
This gave rise to national security doctrines against communism in the rest of Latin America, extending the political presence of the armed forces and military dictatorships in Central and South America in the period 1960-1970. They had the backing and military training, in most cases, of the United States, which also encouraged large investments in Latin American countries to renovate their weapons.
In 1973, Augusto Pinochet overthrew the democratically elected Marxist government of Salvador Allende.
Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile were under the political influence of military governments from the mid-1960s.
In 1975, thirteen Latin American countries were ruled by military regimes: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
In 1989, U.S. troops invaded Panama to oust dictator Manuel Noriega.
Highlights in this period of revolutionary movements include the tendency of a wing of the Catholic Church inclined towards socialism, called Liberation Theology, featuring figures like Hélder Câmara (1909-1999), Leonardo Boff (1938-), Gustavo Gutiérrez (1928-), and indigenous movements, notably Rigoberta Menchú (1959-).
Rural guerrillas operated in countries such as Venezuela, Guatemala, Peru, Nicaragua, and Colombia, and urban guerrillas in Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina.
The current period of economic growth experienced in recent years by various Latin American countries has served capital gurus to speak of a supposed economic miracle. What is certain is that growth has benefited almost exclusively the imperialist multinationals, the local capitalist elite, and very limited sectors of the middle class. For the rest of the population, the much-touted miracle has, once again, come to nothing.