Lecture 34 – Post Colonialism and Beyond in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
Beyond the Post Colonial Era: It can be argued that with the end of apartheid in South Africa, the age of postcolonialism is over. Eastern Asia has entered on an age of great prosperity. Since 1945, two distinct developments emerged in the post-colonial world.
1. First of all, as European power retreated, new governments emerged in Africa and Asia with the task of resuming self-government after generations of foreign rule and the problem of rendering their homelands less dependent on Europe, America, and Japan. This has been accompanied by four stages of relations to the more developed areas:
The Cold War: During this period, most new nations became proteges of one of the two quarrelling superpowers. The alliance of the US with old colonial master-states led many nations to turn to Russia.
The Problem of Globalization: Since the end of the Cold War, the rising economic interdependence of the world (globalization) has posed problems for the new nations due to their inheriting economies shaped to be dependent on the colonial motherlands.
Rising Democracy: Though some nations still struggle with authoritarianism, democracy has tended to increase over time.
Rising Religion: In many countries, assertive religious movements have arisen, not always in harmony with rising democracy. Some people see this as a clash of civilizations, a war of the modern west against resurgent anachronism. (Many Americans took this view in the wake of 9/11/01.) Others argue this overestimates the strength of religious resurgence and the unity of various global cultures. They argue the world has always had clashing cultures and that the problems of the present (pollution, climate change, famine, war, etc) require more cooperation between nations. Whatever the truth here, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity continue to be relevant at the global scale. (And many other groups endure—Jews, Sikhs, Jains, Taoists, Shinto, etc.)
Latin America Since 1945: Since World War II, the leaders of Latin America have tried to reduce dependence on the outside world, with generally mixed success. After World War II, Latin America found itself drawn into the ongoing struggle of the superpowers, though not so much so as some regions. US and Russian investment was used to expand economies, but often they could not pay their debts, leading to further subjection to US or Soviet power.
Social Structures: Latin America remains mired in poverty. At the same time, huge urban slums have grown while an urban middle class, well educated and prosperous, has also arisen. (In Bogota, Colombia, at night you can see the lights of one of the mountainside shanty towns on the fringe of the city, climbing the mountain slope skyward like stars. Half a mile away, grand apartment buildings, with large and spacious apartments that have cable TV, electricity, running water, air conditioning, etc, arise skyward tens of stories.) The successful middle class has little desire for social change or revolution, just for their own comforts. They supported status quo supporting military governments in the 60s and 70s.
Political Changes: The Cold War tended to either bring Soviet-backed Communists to power (Cuba and Nicaragua) or US-backed authoritarian anti-communists (such as Pinochet in Chile) to power. Only Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Costa Rica remained democracies consistently, though Colombia was torn by civil war. The military took on increased political power in most nations. The Catholic church attacked poverty and social inequality; some theologians formulated a religious critique of social and economic inequality known as Liberation Theology, though it was condemned by the Vatican. It advocated a Christian, non-violent form of socialism and political protests and action to aid in achieving social justice. Since 1990, however, Latin America has moved away from authoritarianism and back towards democracy. International Drug cartels are an ongoing problem for many nations due to the US insatiable appetite for Latin American drugs, especially cocaine, grown by many peasants to survive economically.
Revolutionary Challenges: There have been four attempts to establish genuniely revolutionary govenrments pursuing major social and economic change: Cuba in 1959, Chile in 1970, Nicaragua in 1979 and Peru in the 1980s. (Heritage, p. 1030.) All involved some sort of Marxist political organization and all but Peru were connected to the Soviet Union.
Cuba: In the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by Fulgencio Battista, a military dictator who was strongly allied to US organized crime groups. Cuba became their haven from the law in the US. But he was also supported by the US government and it was the usual corrupt authoritarian anti-communist regime. Between 1956 and 1959, a group of Cubans led by Fidel Castro (1926- ) and Che Guevarra (1928-1967). Battista fled in January 1959 and Castro took over. Castro undertook one of the largest reshapings of a nation ever, setting up an authoritarian Communist government, backed by Russia. The land was collectivized (or broken into small private holdings in some cases) and the wealthy fell from power; many fled the country. Cuba focused on agriculture, especially sugar. The US was hostile to Castro and made many attempts to overthrow him, some rather insane (exploding cigars) and some simply flops (an effort to sponsor an invasion by Cuban exiles, the Bay of Pigs catastrophe in 1961). In 1962, Soviet attempts to put missiles in Cuba almost caused a nuclear war. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba plunged into the ‘Special Period’ of the 1990s, in which the loss of Soviet subsidies led to economic meltdown. By the 2000s, Cuba has recovered from this crisis through agricultural innovations, opening up lands to private enterprise of agriculture. Further, it has recently allied itself to Chavez’s Venezuela and its willingness to provide medical help to other nations has earned it a lot of goodwill. With Fidel Castro too sick to continue governing, however, the future of Cuba remains unclear; his brother Raul has stepped in to lead Cuba, but he is unlikely to last too much longer, due to his own age. During the reign of Castro, Cuba’s attempts to export first revolution, and then educational and medical aid to other countries and its ability to poke the US in the eye has given it disproportionate fame and influence. (While Cuba remains poor, Cuba has some of the best education and medical care in Latin America.)
Chile: Until the 1970s, Chile was a model for parliamentary democracy. Economic decline in the 60s heightened class and political tensions. The election of Salvador Allende (1908-73), a socialist and Marxist, however, brought the growing crisis to a head. He became president but lacked control of Congress or the military. The Chilean congress blocked many of his measures, but he began appropriating foreign companies by decree. (Many were US owned.) This panicked small to medium Chilean businessmen. At the same time, this did little to help the poor. Attempts at land re-distribution did not increase agriculture. By 1973, Allende had many enemies and few allies. He was unable or unwilling to compromise with other factions. The Nixon administration then backed a coup by the military. Allende was overthrown and killed. From 1973-88, a brutal military junta ruled the nation, led by General Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006). It allied itself to the US, killed and kidnapped its own people, and directed a free market program dictated by the ideas of US laissez-faire economists like Milton Friedman. The economy briefly rallied then declined again. (In 1973, 20% of Chileans lived in poverty; by 1988, 40% did.) In 1988, he was removed as President and the nation has been a democracy ever since; Pinochet and his supporters had to flee to avoid prosecution. He was eventually returned to Chile, but was too ill to stand trial, then finally died.
Nicaragua: In 1979, the corrupt Somoza family dictatorship was overthrown in Nicaragua by the Sandinistas (Sandanista National Liberation Front). The Somoza had ruled since the 1930s with moderate support from the US. The Sandinistas were a mixture of Marxists, Roman Catholic priests, and others left wingers seeking social reform. It remained in power until 1990, winning a series of democratic elections. However, the continuing struggle with the ‘Contras’, anti-Sandanista guerillas backed by the US, prevented much reform. The Reagan administration (1981-9) was very hostile to the Sandanistas. They feared it would become another Cuba. Indeed, Cuba provided major assistance to the Sandanistas in the areas of education, economic development, and medicine, while Nicaragua shipped food to help feed Cuba. They stepped down in 1990 after losing an election but remain one of the major parties. (Indeed, in 2006, their leader Daniel Ortega was elected president.)
Pursuit of Stability Under the Threat of Revolution:
Argentina: In 1955, the Army overthrew Juan Peron, who fled into exile. Two decades of unrest and economic stagnation followed. (Heritage, p. 1033.) By 1976, the military took over. Thousands of people simply vanished under military rule, and in 1982, the military tried to seize the Falkland Islands from Britain. They lost and in 1983, civilian rule resumed. President Raul Alfonsin (1927 - ) purged the military and restored civilian authority. Since then, Argentina has remained a strong democracy. The economy, however, continues to stagger from crisis to crisis.
Brazil: From 1964 to 1985, the military ruled Brazil. It was very repressive, yet many in the Army feared military rule would destroy civilian respect for the military. This led to a peaceful surrender of power in 1985. Under military rule, foreign investment was invited in to develop the country. It was very successful, but it also racked up huge foreign debt. The Amazon rain forest has come under attack as part of economic growth, eliminating 12% of it. (Heritage, p. 1033.) Brazil has also become a world leader in production of sugar-based auto fuels and cars designed to run on biofuels.
Mexico: Mexico remained under control of the PRI until the 1990s. However, the PRI became more conservative after 1945, at least in comparison to Marxist regimes. In 1988, election results were heavily disputed, weakening the PRI’s hold on the country. The party became more decentralized and President Carlos Salinas moved to privatize economic enterprises and to negotiate free trade agreements. The most important of these was NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which removed trade barriers between the US, Canada, and Mexico. Internal conflict, a revolt, the assassination of the PRI’s 1994 candidate, economic downturn, armed rebellion in Chiapas, and other problems chipped away at the PRI’s position. In 2000, Vincente Fox (President from 2000 to 2006), leader of the National Action Party (PAN), became President. He had a close friendly relationship with President George W. Bush of the United States but the Mexican economy floundered. The 2006 election was full of accusations of fraud, but Felipe del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa, candidate of PAN, emerged as the victor, though some 36% of Mexicans think his election was fraudulent.
Post-Colonial Africa: In Africa, colonial era divisions were turned into new states by independence movements, though many were torn by conflicting nationalities and lacked long-term historical identity. The period between World War I and II generated the nationalism and independence movements which first liberated then held these new nations together. The role of Africa in World War II helped to catalyze this process.
The Transition to Independence: Since World War II, nearly 60 independent states have emerged in Africa. By 1980, every state except for Spanish Morocco and Western Sahara were independent, though Namibia and South Africa were white dominated. Men such as Jomo Kenyatta (1893-1976) in Kenya emerged as symbols of their nations. Only a few movements had to use violence to get the Europeans out. French Algeria (1955-1962), Portuguese Angola and Mozambique (1961-75), Belgian Congo, Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) from 1960 to 1980 were the main sources of violence. Unfortunately, many states succumbed to internal civil war as different nationalities fought for control of national resources and what few sources of wealth the colonizing nations had created in their colonies. Most nations lacked enough educated people to run an honest government, and corruption was rife.
Nigeria: The Republic of Nigeria, home to 100 million people, is the most populous state in Africa. In 1960 it gained its freedom and in 1964 became a federated republic, combining Eastern, Western, and Northern regions. The Igbo dominate the east, the Yoruba in the West, and the Hausa and Fulani in the North. The official language is English, but these four major languages are accepted for government business. In 1966, an Ibo leader staged a coup, only to die, then the Eastern Province rose in revolt after a brief period of military rule, declaring itself the nation of Biafra. Civil War ensued. Over a million died by the time of Biafran surrender in 1970. The war built a sense of nationalism over the corpses of the Biafrans. Continual instability has plagued Nigeria ever since. In 1999, the nation finally returned to civilian rule with a peaceful election. 2003 and 2007 have seen successful elections, though heavy charges of corruption and fraud have marred them. Nigerians continue to squabble over control of the oil producing Niger Delta, over Christian and Moslem relations and over the problem of inadequate infrastructure. Nigeria has, unfortunately, also become a major center for internet scams, the most famous of which is the ‘Nigerian minister’ scam, due to having higher levels of internet access than much of Africa.