1. Modern Latin America Robert Wesley Bridger Jr History 141, 71154

2. Latin America's Wars of the 19th Century Race War Racial differences had been an underlining tone to many wars in Latin America, but the best show of this was the Haitian War for Independence that lasted from 1791-1803. Just like many other European colonies, Haiti was dominated by a small group of privileged whites who considered mixed-race people to be second-rate, but treated worst of all were the pure blacks. The war ended with a black uprising where they violently killed off the others. This led Napoleon to try and reclaim the land, yet with the unique fevers to the Caribbean that only the blacks on the island found themselves resistant to, he failed and lost thousands. The island would remain theirs.

3. Latin America's Wars of the 19th Century Separation Versus Union For many years the Spanish holdings in Latin America were held to the empire by loyalty to their King. When the king was forced to turn his attention away from his colonies and later dismantled by Napoleon’s invasion of Spain, their loyalties began to fall wayside and independence sparked up. After these new nations emerged, it was difficult to hold them together. Many places of the New World were very unpopulated and some had little to no connection with the rest of its lands. These differences increased difficulty for the new nations to find common identity throughout its entirety, usually ending up in civil wars and political unrest. In addition, the lack of identity caused much of the new nations to split from a few large to many smaller nations, each with its own identity and cultural background.

4. Latin America's Wars of the 19th Century Wars Of Territorial Conquest Many of the wars between nations of Latin America were not over territorial conquest. However, the War of the Triple Alliance, 1864-1870, was. The primary countries to invade the newly formed countries of Latin America with ideas of conquest were the United States and Great Britain. Taking advantage of the new and weak Mexico, the United States began a war to extend their empire, also known as Manifest Destiny. The Mexican American War was it’s result and the United States gained the lands of the upper half of Mexico, lands that would reach them to the Pacific Ocean.

5. Latin America's Wars of the 19th Century Interventions Caused By Capitalism Following the wars for independence, many of the newly formed Latin American countries found themselves in debt and terrible economic conditions. Two countries that would often intervene in these conflicts were the United States and Great Britain. They would for reasons of their own, in hopes of saving their investments or possibly enforcing the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. No county in Latin America was able to find themselves completely safe from outside influences either in trade, policy, and even foreign loans that would nearly bankrupt many of these nations. In the more recent past, the United States has attempted to open Democracy to the countries of the world, especially the ones who share it’s Western Hemisphere. They would do this by promoting political take-overs, training troops, and loaning large sums of money.

6. The Second World: Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective with Mexico on January 1, 1994. This was done in hopes of pulling Mexico into the first world, yet sadly it failed to do so. It failed primarily not because of its trade ability or goods, but the lack of control it had over its own nation. This was proven to the world the same day as the NAFTA became effective, when elements of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) seized four municipalities and assassinated two leaders of the controlling political party. Though Mexico doesn’t produce a large percentage of American drugs, it does act as a easy passage for distributors to cross into the United States where their product will be sold to the mass of American drug abusers. The average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Mexico is highly increased by the wages many Mexicans earn while working both legally and illegally in the United States. This jobs serve both as pro and con to American citizens. They do the jobs many Americans will not to do, yet they cost taxpayers a countless amount with medical, educational, and social services handouts.

7. The Second World: Columbia Columbia is the only country in South America that has both Pacific and Caribbean ports. 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, the vast majority of these living in the central to western regions. Since the 1930s, the population of Columbia has completely shifted to become vastly urban, currently sitting at about 80 percent. Three major political powers fight for control of areas of the country. These three are the national government with its military, paramilitary forces, and rebel drug traffickers. Holds a reputation as a center of drug trade, not just to South America, but much of the world.

8. The Second World: Argentina Argentina serves as a reminder that holding a first or second world status is not permanent and can be lost. By the 1920s Argentina was the seventh richest nation in the world due primarily to its thriving beef and wheat productions. Argentina was taken over in a military junta in the 1970s. Here they made no friends with their failed attempt to take the Falkland Islands in 1982 and their attempt to pay off debt by seizing of its citizen’s pension funds in 2001. From the Late 1990s to 2002, Argentina's per capita income went from 8,500 to a mere 2,800. This big fall led to over half of all its citizens being below the poverty line.

9. The Second World: Brazil Brazil is the leading country of South America. This is primarily due to its sheer size. It borders all other nations in South America except Chile and Ecuador. It leads the world in exporting beef, coffee, oranges, pork, poultry, soy, and sugar. This being agriculture exports only, which make up only 10 percent of its $100 billion a year export business. Brazil is one of the world's top ten largest economies. Brazil is one of the few second world nations that have stood up to their first world trade partners to better themselves. It did this to both the United States, and the European Union. Brazil serves as South America’s melting pot of nationalities. It has the world's second most African, Italian, Japanese, and Lebanese immigrants.

10. Famous People ( Brazil ) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva He was a founding member of the Worker’s Party, a left wing progressive party, in the middle of the military government. He became the 35 th President of Brazil. He served two terms in office, from 2003-2010. He is often referred to as the most popular politician in Brazil’s history, and during his time in office, one of the most popular in the world. He had even been featured in the magazine Time ’s The 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2010. He said upon his farewell speech on January 1, 2011 that he felt he always had something to prove, that if he failed it would be the working class failing, and it would mean the poor of Brazil had failed.

11. Famous People ( Cuba ) Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz Castro is known as a Cuban revolutionary who has served both as Cuba’s Prime Minister and President for a total of fifty years. (1959-2008) Leading a successful guerilla war in Cuba, he came to power as Prime Minister in 1959. After failed assassination attempts by the United States, he formed an alliance with the Soviet Union and allowed the storage of their nuclear weapons in Cuba. This led to what is widely known as The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, relations between the United States and Cuba fell to rock bottom, sparking a trade embargo, and it wasn’t until the last couple years that relations began to improve. Castro has been seen as both a hero to anti-imperialism by his supporters, and as a harsh dictator who has overseen multiple human rights abuses by those who wished for his removal.