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18.3: Early 20th Century Latin America

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    132606
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    At the beginning of the 20th century, the Mexican Revolution occurred when Pancho Villa in northern Mexico and Emiliano Zapata in southern Mexico created an opportunity for new liberal forces led by Alvaro Obregon. In 1917, after defeating Villa on the battlefield, Obregon held a constitutional convention, which produced a document that embraced agrarian reform, an eight-hour workday, and the right to organize labor unions. There was also a declaration that the subsoil belonged to the state in the name of the people. In other words, subsurface minerals belonged to the people or to the state, rather than to individuals or companies. These ideas were inspirational for the rest of Latin America and even other parts of the world: the Mexican Revolution predated the Bolshevik Revolution by several months.

    PEMEX Logo
    Figure: Logo of Petróleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil company established by Cárdenas. The motto means, “For the rescue of sovereignty”.

    It took time, but in the 1930s, under President Lázaro Cárdenas, land reform was implemented that brought back indigenous communal landholdings. And in 1938, Cárdenas nationalized Mexican oil, taking over leases given to U.S. and British oil companies. The American president, Franklin Roosevelt, who had begun a “Good Neighbor Policy” to emphasize trade and cooperation rather than military force, did not intervene when oil companies objected. Britain accepted the change in order to assure Mexican support in what everyone understood would soon be World War II.

    Populists

    Cárdenas was part of a wave of populist heads of state in Latin America, charismatic leaders who tried to address the needs of “the people,” which included rural peasants as well as the urban working class. Latin American Populism also attracted a rising professional middle class, shut out of political power by traditional oligarchies. In Argentina, this new middle class included first-generation immigrants from Europe who supported a new Radical Party. Argentina was second only to the United States as an immigration choice for impoverished Europeans, particularly Italians, Germans, and Eastern European Jews. In other cases, army officers who had received professional training either at home or abroad by European military missions felt that the oligarchs were insufficiently patriotic and needed to be replaced.

    The populists also supported nationalist economic measures, including policies of land reform and efforts to reduce dependency on international markets for mining or agricultural goods. The crisis of the Great Depression emphasized the importance of building independent domestic economies and making education, housing, and infrastructure improvements for all people. The global war against fascism inspired many to embrace democracy and overthrow long-standing military regimes, like in Guatemala, Venezuela, and Cuba. However, these attempts at democratic practices were frequently short-lived.

    Vargas and Roosevelt
    Figure: Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas (left) and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (right) in 1936

    Brazil

    Two of the most notable populist leaders were: Getúlio Vargas of Brazil and Juan Perón of Argentina. Vargas lost in a fraudulent election to an oligarchy-backed candidate in 1930; a brief uprising made him president. In 1937, Vargas established an authoritarian state in order to prevent communist-supported leftists from being elected. However, he also rooted out a new fascist movement and disbanded it, setting himself up to accept U.S. aid and support the Allies in World War II. Brazil was the only nation in Latin America to send troops to fight alongside the Allies in Europe. Vargas stepped down in 1945. But, he ran again for president in 1950 and was reelected.

    Argentina

    Perón was an army officer who had served as a military attache in Italy in the 1930s, witnessing up close the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. At that time, Argentina was governed by politicians elected through fraud. In 1943, in the midst of World War II, the military overthrew the corrupt regime, instituting a government that they felt was more dignified and responded more directly to the people. Juan Perón, a key player in the coup, chose to become the Minister of Labor. By guaranteeing labor law and favoring the workers in negotiations, he became popular among the urban masses in Buenos Aires. Although the military regime grew nervous about his growing popularity and had Perón arrested, the workers came to his aid. He was released and was elected president of Argentina in 1946.

    Perón benefited from a postwar economic boom in Argentina. He could promise and deliver on higher wages, better living and working conditions, and vacations for workers as tax revenues rolled in because of high international prices for Argentine wheat and beef. In the context of the Cold War, Perón proclaimed that he represented a “third way” between unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism. In other words, his government improved the lives of Argentinians without having to take sides in the superpower conflict.

    Eva_Duarte_de_Peron_en_Espana.jpg
    Figure: President Juan Perón and his wife, “Evita”, arrive in Madrid.

    Perón bet on never-ending good times, especially when it seemed that the Korean War might lead to a World War III in which Argentina would benefit. However, shortly after he was reelected in 1952, Perón’s popular wife, Eva Duarte, died of ovarian cancer at age 33. Hundreds of thousands attended her funeral and a cult of “Santa Evita” quickly took hold.

    The Argentine economy began to suffer as the world recovered from World War II and Argentina faced competition for its wheat and beef in the international market. Like Vargas, Perón also faced inflation and political scandals. A bitter fight with the Catholic Church led to Perón’s ousting by the military in 1955 and the suppression of the Peronist movement. He was invited back from exile and reelected president in 1973.


    18.3: Early 20th Century Latin America is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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