Chile Paper

Before the 16th century, northern Chile was under Inca rule while central and southern Chile was under the rule of Mapuches (Araucian Indians). In the sixteenth century is when there was the coming of the Spanish. Chile fought for and declared it's independence in 1810 but their victory over Spanish was not obtained until 1818. During the years of 1879-1883 Chile was at war. This war was called the War of the Pacific. In this war Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia which won them its present regions.

In 1970, Salvador Allende Gossens was voted president. He became the first Marxist to be elected president by popular vote in Latin America. In an attempt to turn Chile into a socialist state, nationalize many private companies, institute programs of land reform and in foreign affairs, Allende sought closer ties with Communist countries. The government was only three years old when Salvador Allende was overthrown and died in 1973 because of a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, who then ruled until a freely elected president was installed in 1990. Allende's death also led to the execution, detention, and expulsion from Chile of thousands of people.

Now, sound economic policies have contributed to steady growth, reduced poverty rates by over half, and have helped secure the country's commitment to democratic and representative government, Chile has increasingly assumed regional and international leadership roles suitable to its status as a stable, democratic nation.

As for the people of Chile, now, the majority of Chile's population is mestizo (mix between Spanish settlers and Indigenous people). Many Chieans are also of Germans, Italians, Irish, British, or Yugoslav ancestry. Three small indigenous groups are still distinguishable, which are the Araucanians of central Chile (the largest group), the Changos of northern Chile, and the Fuegians of Tierra del Fuego. Almost ninety percent of the people are at least nominally Roman Catholic. I think this is because of when the Spanish came over, the practice of Catholicism was brought with them. Spanish is the country's official language.

Now as for Chile's economy, its based on the export of minerals, copper, and agriculture. The Vale of Chile is the country's primary agricultural area; its vineyards are the basis of Chile's wine industry. The chief crops are grapes, apples, pears, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, and beans. Sheep raising is the chief pastoral occupation,which provides wool and meat for domestic use and for export. Fishing and lumbering are also important economic activities. Chile's industries largely process its raw materials and manufacture various consumer goods. The major products are copper and other minerals, processed food, fish meal, iron and steel, wood and wood products, transportation equipment, and textiles.

On the other hand, two of Chile's major economic problems, is the dependence of the economy on copper prices and the production of an adequate food supply. Chile's main imports are petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, electrical and telecommunications equipment, industrial machinery, vehicles, and natural gas. The main trading partners for Chile are the United States, China, Brazil, Argentina, and South Korea. Here is a chart of Chile's export commodities along with other important facts:

• GDP- Per Capita: $14,400 (2007 est.)
• Infant Mortality Rate: total: 7.9 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 8.7 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 7.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
• Life expectancy: total population: 77.15 years
  male: 73.88 years
  female: 80.59 years (2008 est.)
• Literacy Rate: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 95.7%
  male: 95.8%
  female: 95.6% (2002 census)
• Ethnic groups: white and white-Amerindian 95%, Amerindian 3%, other 2%
• Population below poverty line: 18.2% (2005)
• Export commodities: copper, fruit, fish products, paper and pulp, chemicals, wine
• External debt: $49.18 billion (30 June 2007)

Well as for Chile now a days, in 2005, the constitution was amended to reduce the national influence of the military and declared civilian control over it, getting rid of the marks of Pinochet's dictatorship that had been preserved in the document. Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist and a defense minister under Lagos, was elected president in Jan., 2006. She was the first woman to be elected president of Chile. Bachelet, won more than 53% of the vote, defeating conservative business entrepreneur Sebastián Piñera. The center-left coalition also won majorities in both houses of the Chilean congress. In June, 2006, Chile saw massive protests over secondary school funding, some of which resulted in clashes with the police.

Neocolonialism

In this chapter you learn that Latin America went through a lot of change; for the rich and the poor. The export form Latin America was a "boom" that improved a lot for them. The products of trade form each country made a difference. Cuba had sugar, Honduras had bananas, Argentina had massive wheat production, and Brazil had coffee; all this for trade. There were more countries with other things for trade as well.

But from our discussions in class there was a lot more happening during neocolonialism. For example, in 1933 Augusto Sandino launched a guerilla war against the U.S. occupiers. He was the first to really fight back against the U.S. In 1961 The U.S. attempted an invasion of Cuba called the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The invasion failed because of the overthrow of the dictator Britista. During all this time up to like 1990 there was many rebellions and U.S. invasions and even civil wars. It was tragic.

Unit 3 Exam

Here's My Unit 3 Exam Answer– Essay:

1. In this essay I want you to describe the concept of neocolonialism.
2. What does the term mean?
3. What are it’s economic and political underpinnings and outcomes?

• Make sure to include examples from the class. You should also discuss U.S. military interventions in Latin America as they relate to neocolonialism (describe at least three). You can use your class notes and your book to assist you.
• This should be answered in a formal essay format – 5 paragraphs MINIMUM! Remember how to construct a formal essay…I. IntroII. Supporting argument (paragraph)III. Supporting argument (paragraph)IV. Supporting argument (paragraph)V. Conclusion

Neocolonialism. What does it mean? It means the economic and political policies by which a great power indirectly maintains or extends its influence over other areas or people. So in other words bigger and powerful countries making governments in smaller and powerless colonies or countries. So as far as Latin America goes, the U. S. did a lot of neocolonialism in some countries.

There were many different incidents and outcomes from the U.S. practicing neocolonialism. One of the first to fight back against the United States was Augusto Sandino. In 1933 he launched a guerilla war against the U.S. occupiers in Nicaragua. U.S. soldiers had occupied Nicaragua from 1912-1933. This interfention was a more violent military intervention instead of a mostly peaceful debt-collecting operation or public health & sanitation project like in other countries like Dominican Republic. But then again, Nicaragua wasn't the only country that had U.S. occupiers that were more violent thatn helpful. Anyway Sandino's guerillas and the U.S. marines were in a five year shooting war. Augusto Sandino was soon looked at as a hero because he stood up to the United States.

Another example, besides the U.S. soldier occupants, would be that several U.S. interventions installed leaders who became long-term dictators, corrupt petty tyrants, known for their greed and their obedience to U.S. policy. One sample of this would be in the country Chile. In 1970, Chile elected Salvado Allende Gossens who was the first Marxist to be elected president by popular vote in Latin America. Allende nationalized private companies, instituted programs of land reform and in foreign affairs and attempted to turn Chile into a socialist stae. But Allende was losing control. Domestic problems led to a series of violent strikes and demonstrations. As it got worse, the neutral Chilean military began to pressure Allende; he yieled to some of their demands and appointed military men to several high cabinet positions. Now here's where the U.S. steps in. In 1973, the United States backed the armed forces, who staged a coup in which they overthrew Allende (who died in the process). In the same, U.S. ushered int he regime of General Augusto Pinochet to take over. But this was after the coup (that the U.S. backed) led to the execution, detention, or expulsion from Chile of thousands of people. Even with General Augusto Pinochet's take over (appointed by the U.S.), the country continued to deteriorate.

One last example of the neocolonialism in Latin America would be amount of change it went through. There were massive changes that occurred that affected the lives of everyone, no matter rich and poor, urban and rural. Latin American countries became modern metropolises, comparable to urban giants anywhere. They had street cars swaying, telephones jangling, and silent movies flickering from Montevideo & Santiago to Mexico City & Havana They were multiplying in railroads and export goods such as sugar, coffee, copper, grain, bananas, rubber, and tobacco. Landowners and urban middle-class people prospered, but the life of Latin Americans rural majority improved little.

So, neocolonialism had it's good and it's bad. In some ways there was peace, like the modern changes within the countries, and some ways there was wars and violence because fo U.S. military interventions and invasions.

Unit 2 Take Home Exam

Here are the questions & answers for the Unit 2 Take Home Exam:

Short Answer:

1. Who was the first of Latin American liberators we discussed in class, who launched an independence struggle in the late 1700’s? What country did he help liberate? What happened to the country after liberation?

The Latin American liberator who launched an independence struggle in the late 1700's was Toussaint L'ouverture. He helped liberate Haiti. At the end of the liberation in Haiti, there was an economic collapse caused by years of war, inexperience, and loss of trading partners lead to brutal dictatorship.

2. Name some of the individuals involved in the struggle for Mexico’s independence.

Mestizo and Indio people, Fr. Miguel Hidalgo (Criollo priest), Fr. Jose Maria Morels, Guerroro, and Augustin Iturbide.

3. Who was Simón Bolívar? What did he achieve? How did he fail?

Simón Bolívar was a liberator of Venezuela, Columbia, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.
He also became president on December 17, 1819 after achieving Independence for these countries. He failed at trying to protect small places.

4. Who was José de San Martín? What did he achieve? How did his political career end?

José de San Martín was liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. He brought Cuba to independence in 1903. His political career as people started to say he was corrupted, like too caught up in the position, so he resigned.

5. In the film The House of Spirits, the character Esteban is meant to represent what class and what economic system?

In the film The House of Spirits, the character Esteban is meant to represent the Criollo Class and the economic system that was represented was the Hacienda System.

6. In the film The House of Spirits, who does the character of Pedro represent?

In the film The House of Spirits, the character of Pedro represents someone of the Mestizo or Indio class(lower class).

7. The film The House of Spirits is based on a book by a famous Latin American author. Who is the author and why was her father famous?

The film The House of Spirits is based on a book by a famous Latin American author, Isabel Allende. She is the daughter of diplomat, Tomás Allende, the Chilean ambassador to Peru. He was also the cousin of Salvador Allende, the president of Chile from 1970 to 1973.

Essay:

In a minimum of five paragraphs, try to answer the following questions…
1. Why did real democracy prove so elusive post independence in Latin America?
2. Why did so many of the newly independent nations of Latin America end up being ruled by Caudillos?
3. Why did political independence not bring economic prosperity to the masses of Latin America?

Independence was something that Latin American countries really tried for. But there was one thing tried in Latin America that didn't seem to work. Some may say that tthere was democracy in Latin America but not really. Also, there were some nations that were newly independent, but why did they end up being ruled by Caudillos? Another thing that would be explained in this essay is why political independence did not bring prosperity to the masses of Latin America.

First of all, let's talk about democracy. Democracy is a form of government in which the people rule directly by assembly in meetings in order to elect representatives who will so act for them. Now with that definition in mind, think about if the countries in Latin America, like Cuba or Chile, truly have democracy. Countries like Cuba may have claimed independence and tried democracy but did it work? Democracy for Latin American countries was never really given to them seeing how the United Stated always found a way to intervene and have U.S. military take control or appoint a dictator after overthrowing the nation's government.

Now, why did so many of the newly independent nations of Latin America end up being ruled by caudillos? First of all let's look at what is a caudillo. As explained in class, a caudillo is boss of a country (strong man) could be military leader (powerful). So my reason for Latin American countries ending up being ruled by caudillos is because they couldn't really do it on their own, so they looked for help from other countries. And what country was the one who seemed to pop up and be at rescue? The United States. An example of this would be in 1903. During this time Panama was trying to break away from Columbia. The only reason they did break away was because of the instigation and then protection of the United States. The U.S. said that they would back them up with U.S. military forces all because of the simple fact that the United States had an interest in Panama as a site for the construction of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This is how Panama ended up being ruled by caudillos; U.S. military forces (powerful strong man) coming in to "help" Panama break away from Columbia and taking over.

As far as political independence bringing economic prosperity to the masses of Latin America, it didn't. It didn't bring economic prosperity because of the people who were fighting for independence were not for the people of the lower class. The lower class really didn't have a say in certain situations. So basically everything that was being done wasn't to really help the people of lower class, so the lower class was still struglgling and suffering with trying to provide or obtain food, clothes, and things they needed in their lives.

Question From Teacher

Genocide: An attempt to destroy apart or whole race or certain group of people

Question…
Would you use the term genocide to describe what happen to the Native peoples of the Americas after Colombus’s arrival? Please respond on your blog.

My Response:
I believe taht it was genocide because a whole race was killed off from like disease and stuff that Columbus and his people had brung over.

The Encounter

This chapter was aboout the conquest and colonization of Latin American countries. The Latin America conquest and colonization created patterns of social domination. European logic of conquest soured the Encounter everywhere form Mexico to Argentina. Something that I found interesting in this chapter was that semisedentary societies, indigenous people of Brazilian history, organized themselves by tribes and by gender roles; not by social nor did they build empires. Another thing was that Mexico was given it's name by the rulers of the Aztec Empire. The rulers were called the Mexicas. This chapter also talked about that the name Inca actually reffered on to the emperor and his empire, not the people.

Born in Blood & Fire (Introduction)

This is the book that my class is reading for Latin American Studies. So far, what I've gotten from the Introduction are a few things. One was that besides from proverty the reason why so many Latin Americans come to the United States is because of how so few in places like Brazil, Chile, and Columbia are able to emulate the lifestyle of the U.S. middle class. They want to be able to at least live the life of a middle class person and in these country not that many are able to experience that. To them this seems like wealth; like the middle class in the United States is wealth compared to what they have in other country. Also I think that the purpose of John Charles Chasteen wrote this book because he wants to put the aspects of a confrontation between, I think, the United States and Mexico because of the NAFTA. The aspects of the confrontation can be traced back to 1492, so that's is why the author wrote this book.