Wrg 11e lecture_ch03

Chapter 3 Lecture

World Regional

Geography

A Developmental Approach

11th Edition

© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Latin America

and the

Caribbean


Chapter Learning Outcomes

• Describe the role major environmental factors play in the location and

success of development in Latin America.

• Explain why Latin America is predominantly Roman Catholic in religious

affiliation, but is experiencing a rapid growth in Pentecostalism today.

• Characterize the increasingly important role played by China in Latin

America’s economy and trade.

• Explain the significance of indigenous social movements in economic

development throughout Latin America.

• Indicate the importance of mineral exploitation in the economies of Latin

America.

• Identify the strongest and the weakest economies in Latin America and

the Caribbean and explain the reasons for these national differences.

• Show how migration is reshaping Latin American economies and

population distribution.

• List the reasons for the high level of urbanization characteristic of most

Latin American countries.


Map


Map


Landforms

• Three structural landforms

1. Eastern Highlands

• Central Brazil

• Southern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and

French Guiana

• Southern Argentina

2. Central Lowlands—South America

3. Western Alpine Zone

• Southern Chile

• Argentina

• Into Central America and Mexico


Climate


Climate

• Varied as its landforms

• Flat-topped mountains

• Volcanoes

• Notable are its extensive areas of tropic climates

• Savannas and rain forests


Ethnicity


Ethnicity


European Arrival and Conquest

• Spanish conquest by conquistadores —gold, God, and glory

• Native Indian civilizations– All sustained by agriculture—mainly crop harvesting.

– Types• Aztec—Most urbanized

– Tenochtitlan—one of the largest cities on Earth (Mexico)

• Maya—Most ancient– Guatemala and Mexico

• Chibcha– Agricultural villages in Colombia

• Inca – Noted for infrastructure development

– High mountains of southern Peru and Bolivia

– Excelled at authoritarian social and political order


Colonial Latin America


The End of Colonialism

• Lingering effects of colonialism

• Continued social stratification

– Peninsulares—Europeans born in the Iberian peninsula

– Criollos—those born in American colonies

• Fundamental inequities in landholding

• Latifundios—large estates

• Three forms

1. Plantations

2. Haciendas

3. Estancias

• Centrality of marketplaces


Population


Population


Contemporary Latin America

• Predominantly an urban society now

– 75% urbanized

– Rural-to-urban migration

• Self-perpetuating cycle of growth

• Large metropoli (megacities)

– Mexico City

– Sao Paolo

– Rio de Janiero

• Shantytowns/squatter settlements


Contemporary Latin America


Economy


Globalization

• Neocolonialism—depending on external sources for investment to grow economies

• Debt crises

– Vestiges of expansive borrowing

– Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico all have had crises in recent years.

• Privatization

• Emphasis on multinational economic unions

– Free Trade Across the Americas (FTAA)

– North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)


Regional Trade Blocs


Mineral Resources


Mineral Resources


Agriculture


Tourism

• Major source in Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico,

the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and

parts of the Lesser Antilles

• Less effective where there were beaches,

Indian ruins, nonproximity to the U.S., or where

political instability exists


Illegal Drugs: The Most Dangerous Export

• Organized crime syndicates

– Medellin

– Cali

• Control major cities in Colombia

• Large expanses of rural hinterlands

• Hired private armies

– Guerilla bands

– Homeless street children

• Have engaged in many lawless activities

– Kidnappings

– Assassination attempts

– Bribery of government officials


Religion• Formal

– Small European upper-class

– Urban centers

– Emphasis on piety, faith, and Sacraments

– Emphasis on devotional societies, charities, and social clubs

• Nominal (“in name only”)

– Rural peasant population and urban poor

– Anticlericalism

• Folk

– Mixture of European Catholicism and non-Catholic faith and beliefs

– American Indian

• Pre-Colombian animalistic and medieval Catholic customs

• Centered in mountains and valleys

– Spiritism

• Caribbean-based

• Black and mulattos (term archaic and considered racist)

• Aspects of voodoo and Santería

• Threats to institutional Catholic Church

– Secularism

– Protestant fundamentalism

– Liberation theology


The Latin American Debt Crisis• Excessive borrowing from international banks and their representatives,

including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank

• Neither borrower nor lender paid attention to ability to repay.

• Debt levels in 2006 in the hundreds of millions of dollars

– Brazil—$194 million

– Argentina—$122 million

– Mexico—$160 million

• Baker Plan (James Baker, U.S. Secretary of State)

– Bridge loans to cover interest on the debt

– Assumption that debt to cover debt is acceptable

– Bought time for lenders and borrowers

• Brady Plan (Nicholas Brady, U.S. Treasury Secretary)

– Strategies acknowledging that debtors may be unable to repay debts

without severely impacting their development

– Proposal to forgive a significant part of debt

– IMF and World Bank guarantees for remaining debt

– Requirements of debtor countries to enact changes in economic practices

– Changes sometimes had social and political ramifications.


Mexico

• 72% of all land in Middle America

• 57% of population of that area

• A land of revolutions

– Strangled by the mercantile system

– Stunted by class stratification

– Lapsed into political chaos and despotism in 1800s

• Santa Anna—flamboyant demagogue

• Benito Juarez—liberal that followed Santa Anna in 1855

• Dictatorship under Porfirio Díaz

• Revolution between 1910 and 1917

– Since 1917, relatively politically stable


Mexico

• Political stability brought beginnings of economic

and social development.

• Three approaches to strengthen national

allegiance

1. Establish public education as a national priority.

2. Glorifying Mexico’s “Indianness”

3. Encouragement of political activism by lower-class masses

• Political parties

– Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is dominant—almost

one-party state until 1990s.

– Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) is a leftist coalition.

– National Action Party (PAN) is a pro-business alliance; its

leader was elected president in 2000—first non-PRI president.


Central America

• Troubled region of six small countries

– Serious economic and political challenges

– Limited mineral wealth

– Physical isolation

– Poor transportation networks

– Small markets for manufactured goods

• Little changes since colonial era

• Torn apart in 1990s by various guerilla

movements, death squads, and U.S.

military intervention.


Guatemala

• Guatemala

– The largest, the poorest, and the most politically troubled

– Sugar, coffee, and cattle widely produced

– 36-year civil war ended in 1996.

– CIA interference in 1950s (United Fruit Company)


El Salvador

• Most densely populated

• Migration

– To shantytowns outside San Salvador

– To neighboring countries

• No agricultural frontier

• Emphasis on industrialization

• Relatively skilled and industrious labor force

• No minerals of significance

• Power mostly imported

• 1992—end of deadly 12-year civil war


Honduras

• Population of only 7 million; sparsely

settled

• Limited manufacturing

• Some maquiladoras

• Agriculture is almost sole occupation.


Panama

• Owes existence and economic vitality to U.S.

• Panama Canal

• Divides country into two parts

1. East

• Little developed rain forest

2. West

• Numerous banana plantations along Caribbean coast

• Beef cattle, rice, staple food crops in interior

• Tertiary activities in Canal zone

– Retailing

– Shipping

– Banking

– Drug trafficking


Costa Rica

• Differs from other Central American countries

• Has developed a socioeconomic middle class

• Spirit of national unity

• 90% literacy

• Well-developed infrastructure

• Democratic government

• Considerable regional specialization

– Coffee

– Bananas

– Cut flowers

– Cattle ranching


Nicaragua

• Long history of political instability

• U.S. military occupation between 1912 and 1933

• 1937—Somoza family gained control and ruled until 1979.

• Somoza controlled over half of the wealth in the country.

• Sandinistas

– Took control in 1980s

– Later lost elections

– Currently seeking a comeback

• Sparsely populated and little developed

• Basically, an agricultural country


The Caribbean• Greater Antilles

– Cuba

– Hispaniola

– Jamaica

– Puerto Rico

• Lesser Antilles

• Continental rimland nations

– Guyana

– Belize

– Suriname

– French Guiana

– Relatively small size and harsh environments

• Challenges

– Need to overcome colonial legacies

– Preserve both the local ways of life and the environmental balance in the face of increasing numbers of foreign visitors.


Cuba

• Ignored by Spaniards throughout the colonial era

• U.S. protectorate at beginning of twentieth century

– Tourism exploded

– Yellow fever eradicated

– Sugarcane became the “grass of Cuba.”

– Havana—mecca of gambling and nightclubs

• 1959—Castro overthrows the Batista government.

– Promises major reforms

• Lessen Cuban dependence on foreign nations

– Switched allegiances and dependencies on Soviet assistance

– Breakup of USSR brought new economic challenges

• Diversify Cuban agriculture

• Succeeded in removing Hispanic historical prejudice against farming

• Breakup of Berlin Wall and USSR has effects.

• 2006—Castro yields to his brother Raul.


Puerto Rico

• U.S. Commonwealth

– Pays no income taxes

– No full statehood

• Three-pronged development plan

1. Industrialization

2.Agricultural improvement

3.Expansion of tourism


Haiti

• Located on island of Hispaniola

• African and French elements

• Almost entirely black

• Extreme poverty

• Decay is everywhere.

• Erratic water and power supplies in

Port-au-Prince

• Criminality and lawlessness rule.


Dominican Republic

• Located on island of Hispaniola

• Hispanic flavor

• Subsistence agriculture, large ranches,

and mechanized farms

• Improving infrastructure

• Tourism is booming.


Jamaica

• British influences from 1655 when captured

from Spanish

• Severe social turmoil

• Rich in bauxite—aluminum ore

• Unemployment chronically high

• Crime increasing

– Shantytowns of Kingston

– Rastafarian marijuana dealers


Belize

• Independence from Britain in 1981, but strongly influenced by English culture.

• Population less than 300,000

• Tropical hardwoods and other forest products traditional base

• Sugar and citrus have become significant exports.


South America


Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana

• Little known, culturally Caribbean nations

• Settled during sixteenth and seventeenth

centuries by Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch,

English, and French colonists

• Guyana and French Guiana—governed by

Britain

• Suriname—Dutch possession

• Sugarcane

– Importation of slaves

– Indentured laborers from Indian subcontinent in

nineteenth century


Andean South America

• Land of social and political fragmentation

• Dominated by high mountainous core

• Humid lowlands of Amazon and Orinoco

river basins

• Narrow coastal lowland

• Countries

– Venezuela

– Columbia

– Ecuador

– Peru

– Bolivia


Ecuador

• Deep social and economic divisions

– Tension between rural and urban groups

– Notoriously unstable political environment

• Ignored in favor of Peru during colonial era

by Spain

• Export economy

– Bananas

– Petroleum

– Fish products


Peru

• Spanish Conquest left deep divisions.– European vs. Indian values

– Economic production systems

• Spanish influences– Private property concept

– Large-scale commercial agriculture

– Mining

– Nation-state

– Urban/Westernized

• Indians– Locally focused/emphasis on local traditions

– Agriculture/subsistence farming

• Coastal Peru a narrow ribbon of desert– Arid

– Cool temperatures

• Economy– Lima–Callao oasis

• Truck gardening

• Dairying

• Lima increasingly industrialized

– Fishing

• Guano—bird droppings from huge flocks of seabirds

• El Niño—warm equatorial front affecting fishing industry

– Crops

• Sugarcane

• Bananas

• Cotton

• Rice


Venezuela• Rich and diverse resource base—notably oil

• Four regions

1. Andean Highlands

• Most of Venezuelan population resides here.

• Urban centers

2. Maracaibo Lowlands

3. Guiana Highlands

• Under development

• Vast iron ore and bauxite reserves

4. Llanos

• Troubled area

• Rough terrain

• Breeding ground for political dictatorships

• Petroleum-producing country

– Helped country to fund social infrastructure

– Profits threatened lately by increasing political instability

• Iron ores and bauxite reserves

• Urban centers

• 87% of 26 million population resides in cities.

– Caracas—3.6 million

– Maracaibo

– Valencia

– Maracay

– Barquisimeto


Bolivia

• Long been divided

– Small, elite European upper class

– Large underclass of Indians

– Chronic political instability from factional rivalries

• Altiplano

– High plain

– Perpetually cold and arid

– Rural farmers

• Economic development

– Highlands are one of the greatest mining districts in

the world.

– Large natural gas and petroleum deposits in Chaco

– Yungas area for coca production


Colombia

• Deep social divisions and history of violence

• Regional rivalries

– Conservative culture

• Medellin

• Cali

• Other cities of Cauca River Valley

– Liberal culture

• Bogota

• Magdalena River Valley

• Failure of government to control land east of Andes

– Area harbors subsistence agriculture.

– Drug trafficking


Colombia

• Bogota major urban center in South America

– Cosmopolitan/7.6 million population

– Agriculture and industrial economies

• Barranquilla—Leading Caribbean port

• Manizales, Pereira, Medellin

– Textiles

– Food processing

– Banking

• Cali

– Most rapid growth

– Diversified economy

• El Cerrejón

– Coal deposits

– Petroleum production has increased.


Brazil

• Traditional and modern

• West sparsely populated

• East densely settled

• Six regions


Brazil / São Paulo region

• Economics

– Most modern and productive region

– Per capita income is far above the national average.

– Two-thirds of total national industrial output

– 55% of national manufacturing

– Leading financial center

– Leads the nation in agricultural production

• Megacity

– 19 million population

– Rural to urban migration

– Poor, illiterate, and unskilled

– Lack access to infrastructure

– Air pollution


Rio de Janeiro

• Second largest city

• Distinctive Carioca culture

• 11 million people

• 2016 Summer Olympics


Brazil: The South

• Distinctive flavor

• Nineteenth century settlement by German

and Italian farmers

• Agriculture is main economic livelihood.

• Urban areas are regional service centers.

• Typical manufacturing

– Milling

– Meat packing

– Tanning

– Textiles


Brazil: The East

• Modern meets the traditional.

• Large modern urban center—Rio de Janeiro

– Megacity

– 11 million

– Shortage of level land for urban development

• One of the most mineralized areas of the world

– Mineral Triangle• Gold

• Diamonds

• Iron ore

• Other gems


Brazilian Northeast

• Once the center of the country

• Now poverty-stricken

• Feudalistic social structures continue.

• Low levels of technology

• Three cities

1. Recife

2. Salvador

3. Fortaleza

• Service centers


Brazilian North

• Amazon Basin

– Vast region

– Multilayered rain forests

– Diversity of plant and animal life

• Reasons for failure

– Soils must be fertile.

– Reliance on single crop

– Cropping systems require fungicides and herbicides antithetical to Green revolution.

• Trans-Amazon Highway

– Massive road system out of the Basin

– Encourage underemployed migrants to settle there.


Brazil

• Traditional and modern

• West sparsely populated

• East densely settled

• Six regions


Chile

• Heart is the Central Valley

– Mediterranean climate

– Cohesive society

• Atacama Desert

– Very little rainfall

– Sparsely populated

• Minerals

– Nitrates

– Copper

– Iron ore


Chile

• Colonial roots

– Large, inefficient haciendas

– Inefficient labor supply of inquilinos

• Rapid industrialization following War of the Pacific

– Political power moves to reform-oriented urban parties.

– Greater control of foreign investment

• Allende elected first Marxist head of state (1970).

– Nationalized mining industry

– Accelerated land redistribution

– Took over banks and communications

– Opposition, inflation, and unemployment

• Military revolt in 1973 and Allende killed.

– Pinochet—military dictator until 1990

– Massive human rights violations

• Democratic elections after Pinochet


Argentina

• Second largest territory in Latin America

• One of the richest agricultural bases in the world.

• Colonial roots

– Europeans arrived sixteenth century.

– Spanish focused on gold and silver mines in arid NW.

– Agricultural communities formed along rivers.

– Expansion of Buenos Aires and the Pampa in eighteenth century.

• Independence 1816

• 1946—COL Juan Perón takes over in a military coup.

– Nationalized major industries

– Jobs to descamisados in new, inefficient state-controlled factories

– Perón ousted 1955


Argentina

• Series of military regimes

– 1973—Perón returns from exile.

– Wife, Isabel, succeeds him one year after his death.

– Isabel deposed 1976 by military junta.

– Dirty War follows.

• Military rulers prosecute failed war against Great Britain over Falkland (Maldives) Islands.

• Menem elected amidst inflation and declining living standards.

– Privatization

– Failed to curb rampant political corruption

• Major debt crises in early twenty-first century.

– Defaulted on international debts for three days

– Resulted in election in 2003 of President Nestor Kirchner.

– Kirchner’s wife succeeds him as president.


Argentina

• Buenos Aires and Pampa form heartland.

• 13.3 million—Buenos Aires (primate city)

• Manufacturing and service industries

• Other regions

– West

• Old cities of Córdoba, Mendoza, and Tecumán

• Important growth centers

• Agricultural base

– Some petroleum and metals in East Andes

– Patagonia

• Sparsely populated

• Sheep raising

• Irrigated alfalfa fields, cattle ranches, vineyards, and fruit

orchards


Uruguay and Paraguay• Uruguay

– One of the small South American nations

– One of the highest standards of living

– Rich agricultural base

– Geologically, a transition zone

– Military rule in 1973 ended long-standing, two-party democratic government.

– Civilian rule restored in 1985.

• Paraguay

– Poor and landlocked

– Gran Chaco

• Sparsely populated Western two-thirds

• One of the harshest environments on Earth

– Limited industry


Summary of Chapter• Latin America and the Caribbean were created out of Europe’s accidental

discovery of two large continents connected by an isthmus.

• Dramatic change continued as the European powers imported between

10 and 12 million Africans for slave labor, and indigenous peoples were

concentrated into towns with plazas and Roman Catholic cathedrals.

• Latin America’s economy underwent two “shocks” and eras of

restructuring during the twentieth century. The Great Depression ushered

in an era of protected economies and the debt crisis and economic

restructuring of the 1980s led to the “lost decade.”

• Most countries reoriented their economies to export primary products,

assemble manufactured goods (EPZs), and attract tourists.

• Latin America has never been isolated, but through trade, tourism, and

migration it likely has never been more integrated into the global

economy.

• Latin America and the Caribbean can be divided into coherent, if

problematic, subregions.

• This region’s landscapes, economies, and environments will reflect

global processes such as climate change and economic globalization.