Latin American History

History of Latin America
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(April 11, 2012)
History of Latin America
Most Latin America countries have categorically been under-developed. There has been question as to why this has occurred since it has some of abundant raw materials. This includes tin, copper, silver, gold, zinc e.t.c. Also, oil and hydroelectric power are found in Latin America nations but this does not always correlate with the development since most the countries are under-developed. The nations have had poor education systems, poor health facilities and poor housing. Researchers and Economists have tried explaining this query; one of the theories used by the Economists is the dependency theory, in which there have been many stands.
One of the countries in Latin America includes Cuba. Cuba is a developing country. It has had significant leadership with its charismatic leader Fidel Castro who was also a political revolutionist. Castro led the country from nineteen fifty nine until two thousand and eight. The leader has had the longest tenure in the Latin America nations.
Does the dependency theory adequately explain Latin America in under-development?
The dependency theory is also known as the dependencia theory. It’s a theory that tends to assume that resources flow from the fringe of poor people and nations to the core of rich people and the rich nations. It’s also viewed as a way to explain why poor countries will always remain to be poor. However, the dependency theory has lost its significance; this is because economists have come up with practical and better ways in explaining the under-development in the Latin American nations. Although there have been many arguments that dependency theory still has some significance in development it remains that it has very minimal effect on development.
Some of the dependentistas (those in favor of the dependency theory) argue that some of the monies obtained unfairly by the Spanish and Portuguese empires continued even in the post-independence as the industrialized countries continued to exploit the raw materials of Latin America. The factors mainly considered include: Marxist core assumptions the means and relations of production and the superstructure which include political, cultural and social consequence of the means and relations of production (Faletto).
The nineteen forty eight Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) argued that the development of Latin American countries was hindered by the structural disadvantage as the primary producers. Most Latin American underdeveloped countries such as Bolivia are known to import their raw materials. The economists argued that loss of raw materials as compared to manufactured goods resulted in decline in international trade. Thus industrialization of the under-developed countries is highly encouraged by economists’ rather than “giving” away their raw materials so as to improve their international trades (Andean observers, 2008). Also, internal social and political structures contribute greatly on the development of the said countries. Most countries are politically unstable which deter investors. Lack of economic dynamism social cohesion due to absolute rule inherited from their colonies, the Spanish have also contributed greatly to under-development. This created a lot of internal conflicts between the citizens and their leaders.
The large land owners for example continued to hold on to power after independence instead of aiding on the development issues. It took countries like Argentina a considerable number of years before forming a democratic government. Although economic growth had set in due to agricultural export, it wasn’t until nineteen twelve until a government was formed, and then it was chaotic and fiction-ridden. It could not resolve conflict and disputes between the classes evident between the urban and rural inhabitants. This could not encourage development in any way as most of the developed countries such as Australia had formed democratic governments by eighteen fifty. The land reforms in Latin America were implemented late; in addition to this they were ineffective as compared to the developed countries because they did not have significant redistributive effects. This could in no way promote development because productivity.
In conclusion, dependency theory does not adequately address the under-development in the Latin America countries as the policy is ineffective, it renders to suspect the theory from which it is derived. The policies used by dependency theorist were at best, rather vague. Chile, after embracing democracy in its system of governance radically reduced poverty from 40% to 20%; this was through redistribution of wealth. Thus economic policies, setting up democratic governments which will embrace good governance and encourage industrialization are factors that can lead to development in the Latin America countries.
Is Fidel Castro charismatic?
Most of the developing countries in Latin America are led by Charismatic leaders. They are characterized by a strong personal following. Personalistic regimes such as one experienced by the rule of Fidel Castro are more based on the institution of governance because the personality carries more weight (Bream, 2005). These regimes are character...