Towards an Uncertain Future

What a wild ride this has been, Latin American Studies. It’s crazy to think that the semester is already concluding; I feel as if we could spend the entire year discussing Latin America, but alas, the learning has come to an end. And what a better way to end the course than with the (more

Speaking Truth to Power

I am so glad that this weeks reading continued talking about the dirty wars, looking at it not from the point of view of the victims or the perpetrators, but from the side of those who were affected by these disappearances of loved ones. I feel as if we could have spent the whole term

Power to the People and “The Press and Classical Populism in Argentina and Brazil”

In The Press and Classical Populism in Argentina and Brazil (2018), Ariel Alejandro Goldstein explains to readers the way in which the media was used by the government in the populist regimes of Peronism and Vargism, from the 1930s to the 1950s. Since our project will focus primarily on the the Peronist regime in Argentina

A Decade of Revolution in Cuba

It is interesting to see how much division there was and still is regarding this revolution. Most individuals, Cuban or not are able to share an opinion on Major Ernesto Che Guevarra, and it’s atypical for these opinions to be in the middle of the spectrum; for most, this was a historical character that was

Week 10: Power to the People

This week’s reading focused heavily on the role of the media in Latin American politics from the 1920s to the 1950s. It focuses primarily on the influence of radio in three Latin American countries: Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. With my own modern viewpoint regarding the radio, it’s strange for me to think of it as

Week 8: Signs of Crisis in a Gilded Age

This week really showed us the divide between classes that was present in Latin America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I was particularly interested by the quote “one person’s boom was always another’s crisis” (141), as it helped me put the “golden age” and what that term meant for different groups of individuals

The Export Boom as Modernity

This chapter of Latin American history appears to represent a relatively calm period of time, an seemingly irregular theme for this region. In the source, we learn of a time of overall prosperity and order, that lacked conflict, and stimulated economic growth, and in general terms, allowed these countries to move forward politically and socially.

Citizenship and Rights in the New Republics

Due to some time constraints, actually sitting down to write this was a bit of a struggle, but here we go! Most are aware of the place that slavery in our past held, but I think we seldom go into the details of how these individuals transitioned from being slaves, with no rights or freedoms,

Week Four: Caudillos Versus the Nation State

Let’s start with the idea of liberalism. Nations typically have specific political and economic systems that they claim to adhere to, however, with practically any example, we can see that it is inevitable that a nation will partake in specific actions that go directly against the “rules” laid out by the system. For example, one

A Response to: Independence Narratives, Past and Present

History and the way that we use it as a society is so important. Everyone is familiar with the saying “history repeats itself”, a phrase that comes with a warning: no matter the consequences of events that have happened previously, it is inevitable that similar events will come to occur in the future. Between politicians