Task #2 Latin America Questions

1. What role did the military play in shaping the economy of Brazil?
For over two decades, military dictator forces ruled all of the land of Brazil. Their main goal was
on economic growth, therefore they fostered multiple foreign investments. After they began
large development projects in the Amazon jungle, where the economy boomed in success. It
became negative however when the government froze wages and cut back on social programs,
which then caused the decline of standard of living or level of material comfort.
2. What were some of the positive benefits of one-party rule of Mexico?
It created stability politically for the most of the twentieth century. It promised democracy and
reforms. The president tried to improve life for peasants and workers, and their economy grew
rapidly.
3. What effect did some of the Falklands war have on the military government of Argentina?
The military government went into war over the Falklands islands and went down with a defeat.
Argentina then elected Raul Alfonsin in their first free election. Under his rule, he worked to
improve and rebuild democracy and the economy.
4. Review the chart of Population Living in Poverty
a. In which three countries of LA is the percentage of people living in poverty the lowest?
Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina have the lowest percentages.
b. In which three is it the highest?
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia have the highest percentages.
5. After reading this excerpt, in your opinion, has the military dictatorships in L.A nations been bad
or good for the nations growth?
In my opinion, I believe the military dictatorship in Latin America hadnt done much good for the
country. Their intentions of getting them better economic status, military superpowers, and
things such as that were all positive for the country however, I just cant believe that they did
much good if at the end of the day most of the countries in the region became democratic in the
end. In fact, by the late 1990s, most of America was under some type of democratic ruling.
Throughout the dictatorship, there was many wars and fighting that came along with it.
They struggled to reach their goals, and although they had influence on the economy, more and
more problems still tended to rise as they would make changes. When an area is under one
person or groups rule, it shows that not everyone that makes up the population is going to
agree with what theyre doing or coming up with as a plan for the countries. When one ruling
was overthrown, another would be put into power, and more problems were soon to come. This
is one trend I tended to notice. The people arent happy when theyre being controlled
completely by military dictatorships, and although they may have had minor small positive
effects on the nation growth, I believe that in the end the problems that the countries faced
outweighed the good in the end.
6. A. Brazilia- Brasilia is now the capitol of Brazil, which was the replacement of the capitol called
Rio de Janeiro, which is the second largest city in the world.
B. Land Reforms- The statutory division of agricultural land and its reallocation to landless
people.

C. Standard of Living- Its defined as the degree of material comfort for the people in an area.
Military dictators caused a decline in the standard of living when they had a downward slide of
their once booming economy.
D. Recession- When a countries economy is at a low point or very declined edge. In the early
1980s a recession came upon Brazil.
E. PRI- The Institutional Revolutionary Party, which became the main force for political stability
in Mexico. This created a stable government, but not a flawless one.
F. NAFTA- North American Free Trade Agreement is what this abbreviation stands for. It
eliminated the tariffs of Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
G. Nationalizations of an industry- This is known as the process of giving the government full
ownership of all private companies and industries.
H. Welfare Estates- This is known as a state where the government has control to protect the
health and well-being of the citizens.