o Mexico: The Reforma gave legal basis for decimation of the Indians in the 1850's--60's; reached a climax under Porfirio diaz.
o Andean Region: Similar legislation took all communal lands and divided them amongst individuals leading to a cycle of Indian revolt and bloody governmental repressions.
o Seizure of church lands also contributed to the growing hacienda.
Mexican government issued anticlerical decrees.
1860's: Colombian government confiscated church lands.
1870's: Venezuelan government seized many church holdings.
1895: Ecuadorian liberals expropriated church lands.
Foreign Control of Resources.
- Neocolonial growth came along with certain foreign corporate over natural and synthetic resources.
o 1870: foreign investment was still largely concentrated in trade, shipping, railways, public utilities, and government loans.
o By 1914: foreign corporate ownership had expanded to include most of the mining industry and deeply penetrated real estate, ranching, plantation agriculture, and manufacturing.
Up until this time, Great Britain had an overwhelming domination in Latin American holdings; after 1914, other nations had successfully challenged British dominance.
In the years after 1898, American Imperialism had transformed the Caribbean into what became known as an American Lake through dollar diplomacy and armed intervention.
o Reduced Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and several Central American states to dependencies and protectorates of the US.
The Politics of Acquisition.
- New Economies demanded new politics.
o Conservatives and liberals put aside ideological differences and joined in the pursuit of wealth.
Social Darwinianism and Spencer's Theory of Inferior Races was used to support claims of the inferiority of the masses of mulattos, mestizos, and Indians.
o In some countries, old party lines completely dissolved.
o Dissatisfied urban middle classes, immigrants, and entrepreneurial groups formed parties called Radical or Democratic that challenged the traditional domination by the Creole Aristocracy.
Women, as a whole, must refute those claims that preservation of those customs today is a way of resisting the neocolonialism or imperialism and holding on to the traditional values. ... Nevertheless, as the women of Guinea have demonstrated, sometimes the women triumph. ...
