bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Federalism and Caudillismo in the Mexican Revolution: The Genesis of the Oaxaca Sovereignty Movement (1915–20)
Authors: Garner Paul
Published: February 2009

On 3 June 1915 the state legislature of Oaxaca in southern Mexico issued a decree which proclaimed that the ‘free and sovereign state of Oaxaca reassumes its sovereignty until such time as constitutional order is restored in the republic’ (i.e. in accordance with the Constitution of 1857). Governor José Inés Dávila therefore declared that the executive and legislative branches of the state government would assume control and responsibility over the federal agencies and services within the state. The justification for this dramatic course of action, taken at the height of a period of intense civil war in Mexico, was the decree issued by Venustiano Carranza in December 1914, which had suspended the Constitution in favour of a ‘temporary’ period of pre-constitutional government over which he was personally to retain strict executive control as First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army – thus effectively dissolving the constitutional base of the federation. The immediatecasus belliwas the occupation of the town of Pochutla on Oaxaca's Pacific coast on 1 May by a detachment of Constitutionalist troops, in what Governor Inés Dávila described as ‘a preconceived plan of attack on the sovereignty of the state’.
Union Locals in Mexico: the ‘New Unionism’ in Steel and Automobiles
Authors: Roxborough Ian , Bizberg Ilan
Published: February 2009

For more than 40 years Mexico has experienced sustained and rapid economic growth. Until the recession of 1976–7, GNP grew at an annual rate of 6%. By 1977 there were some four and a half million industrial workers in Mexico and the growth of modern industry was proceeding apace. The Mexican economy began to experience serious problems in the second half of the 1970s and, by 1982, despite (or because of) an attempt to use oil exports to promote recovery, had plunged into a severe crisis. Together with the development of this economic crisis, the 1970s also witnessed the emergence of a sustained increase in industrial conflict and in working-class militancy in general. This upsurge of militancy involved the formation of ‘independent’ unions not affiliated with the official party, and the development of militant factions within some of the larger national industrial unions, affiliated with the official party. It has been suggested that the development of union militancy has been connected with the growth of modern industrial establishments. While this claim cannot be accepted without serious reservations, it is certainly the case that there have been upsurges of union militancy in modern industrial sectors. This article will examine the nature of union militancy in two industries which can be regarded as modern in the context of Mexican development: steel production and automobile assembly.
Peasant Vigilante Committees in Northern Peru
Authors: Gitlitz John S. , Rojas Telmo
Published: February 2009

In December, 1976, the peasants of Cuyumalca, a small, dispersed rural settlement in the northern Peruvian mountain department of Cajamarca, organized the first of what have become known as the rondas campesinas, village level vigilante committees whose primordial aim was from the first and continues to be that of putting an end to robbery, both professional cattle rustling and petty thievery. The rondas patrol roads, trails, pastures and fields
Rivalry and Unification: Mobilising Rural Workers in São Paulo on the Eve of the Brazilian Golpe of 1964
Authors: Welch Cliff
Published: February 2009

The article utilises oral history, labour and military court records, newspaper accounts, and government documents to narrate the history of rural labour mobilisation in the Aha Mogiana region of São Paulo, Brazil, during the years 1959 to 1964. It shows how rival rural leaders linked either to the Brazilian Communist Party or the Catholic Church organised many workers, led numerous influential strikes, and helped hundreds of workers sue for their rights in court. Eventually, Catholic and Communist competitors joined forces under the guidance of a federal agency (SUPRA). Coordinated by SUPRA, the newly unified Alta Mogiana movement was suppressed by the military regime that took control of Brazil in April 1964.
Mexican Peonage: What Was It and Why Was It?
Authors: Knight Alan
Published: February 2009

Our knowledge of Mexican agrarian history has been greatly enhanced by hacienda studies, based on original hacienda archives.Inter alia, these have finished off for good the old notion of ‘feudal’ hacendados who spurned profit for prestige. But if – thanks to their reliance on hacienda accounts – these studies have shed light on hacienda marketing and profit-maximizing, they have told us less about the hacienda's internal workings. The hacienda's relations of exchange are, therefore, better understood than its relations of production. And, from some theoretical perspectives, it is the latter which are primary (which, in grand terms, determine whether the hacienda is to be termed ‘feudal’, ‘capitalist’ or something else again).
The Growth and Development of Belize City
Authors: Everitt John C.
Published: February 2009

Although Belize City has almost always been the centre of population in Belize, few studies have been devoted to its historical geography–or indeed to the urban geography of the country as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to gather together much of the scattered material on Belize City, in the hope that this codification will help the reader to understand the growth and present status of the city, and, perhaps, inspire others to do further research on this, still the major urban centre of Belize.
Physicians, the State and Public Health in Chile, 1881–1891
Authors: Murdock Carl J.
Published: February 2009

This study of public health policy in Chile uncovers some of the social tensions in that country during the 1880s, and illustrates the fragmentation of the Chilean elite prior to the Revolution of 1891. The Chilean government's controversial and contested public health policies implied the increasing bureaucratic organisation and regulation of society. The justifications offered for these policies by central government officials reveal both the deep roots in Chilean politics of a powerful Executive, and the early linkage between the ‘scientific discourses’ of medical professionals and the bureaucratic centralisation of state power.
Summer of Discontent: Economic Rivalry among Elite Factions during the Late Porfiriato in Yucatán
Authors: Joseph Gilbert M. , Wells Allen
Published: February 2009

The past decade has witnessed a rich harvest of regional studies of the Mexican Porfiriato. There are two predominant currents in the recent literature. One group of scholars has focused attention on the political sphere, examining the process whereby the Porfirian central state increased its power at the expense of the regional peripheries. Invariably, the federal cause was advanced by Don Porfirio's ability to manipulate local factional struggles, playing off contendingparentescosor élite family networks. Another group of historians has explored the external dimension of the Porfirian regional economy, examining patterns of cooperation and conflict between local élites and foreign investors. The contradictory nature of such transnational alliances and their impact on non-élite groups have now been analyzed for several important Porfirian regions.
The Pursuit of Pacification: Banditry and the United States' Occupation of Cuba, 1889–1902
Authors: Perez Louis A.
Published: February 2009

On 1 January, 1899, the noon ceremony in Havana was brief but solemn. The Spanish flag was lowered, the United States flag raised. Officers of both countries exchanged formal salutes and informal salutations, whereupon the official ceremony came to an end. After nearly a century of covetous preoccupation with the island, the Unites States assumed formal possession of Cuba.
Cuba's First Venture in Africa: Algeria, 1961–1965
Authors: Gleijeses Piero
Published: February 2009

It was in Algeria that Cuba's involvement in Africa began. Until the overthrow of President Ben Bella in 1965, Algeria was Cuba's closest friend on the continent. Cuba provided both military and civilian assistance not only to the Algerian republic but also, before their victory, to the rebels of the Algerian National Liberation Front. Using Cuban documents, as well as US documents and interviews with protagonists, this article examines Cuba's relationship with Algeria in 1961–5. It is a relationship that clashes with the image of Cuban foreign policy – cynical ploys of a client state – that prevails not only in the United States but also in many European capitals.
Incas Sí, Indios No: Notes on Peruvian Creole Nationalism and its Contemporary Crisis
Authors: Méndez G. Cecilia
Published: February 2009

This commentary article focuses on a crucial moment in the formation of Peruvian Creole nationalism: the 1836–9 Peruvian–Bolivian Confederation. Nationalist sentiments expressed through the anti-confederationist press, satiric poetry and pamphlets, glorified the Inca past while spurning the Indian present. During this period, a nationalist, essentially racist, rhetoric whose roots can be traced to the late eighteenth century, took shape. This rhetoric would provide the foundations of an ideology which has prevailed in Peruvian history. This rhetoric reached its peak in the twentieth century, while evolving into a historiographical discourse instrumental to the exercise of power and which is now in crisis.
Constructing the Limits of State Violence in Central America: Towards a New Research Agenda
Authors: Holden Robert H.
Published: February 2009

This analysis of the historically high level of state-sponsored violence in Central America, typically explained in terms of ‘authoritarianism’ or ‘civil-military relations’, argues for according it a more independent research status. Three historic dimensions of state-sponsored violence – the mechanisms by whichcaudilloviolence was displaced upward in the late 19th century, the level of subaltern collaboration with the agents of state violence as a function of clientelist politics, and the intrusion of US military power after 1940 – are proposed. The implications for the utility of political culture theory and for a reevaluation of the literature on civil-military relations are developed.
Prospects for Democratisation in a Post-Revolutionary Setting: Central America
Authors: Vilas Carlos M.
Published: February 2009

Prospects for democratisation in those Central American countries that experienced revolutionary processes are discussed in the light of recurrent structural constraints – such as incipient structural differentiation, overwhelming poverty, dependence on foreign financial subsidies – and specific sociopolitical variations, i.e. uneven modernisation of traditional rule; tensions between the recent mobilisation of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ social actors, and political institutions and actors (such as parties, unions, parliaments, government and multilateral agencies) which in some cases lead to current social demobilisation and electoral apathy and in others prevent the effective uprooting of political violence; persistence of traditional authoritarian culture and its articulation to the new ingredients of the post-war political and socioeconomic setting.
Proto-industrialisation in a Slave Society: The Case of Minas Gerais
Authors: Libby Douglas Cole
Published: February 2009

As originally proposed in the early 1970s, the proto-industrialisation model was meant to serve as a more complete explanation of that phase in the general transition from agrarian feudalism to industrial capitalism rather vaguely referred to as the period of manufactures. Early proponents emphasised the role of proto-industrialisation in channelling development toward fully-fledged factory system industrialisation. Proto-industrial theories dealing with the complex interplay of economic, social, demographic, cultural and technological processes eliminate many of the uncertainties generated by the original debates over the general process of transition. Certainly, it is no longer possible to deny the contributions of rural/peasant non-agricultural productive activities to the development of early factory industry as a whole, as well as to social changes leading to the emergence of a proletariat.
The APRA Government and the Urban Poor: The PAIT Programme in Lima's Pueblos Jóvenes
Authors: Graham Carol
Published: February 2009

It is now a well-known sad story that Alan Garcia's APRA government initially raised high hopes within and outside Peru and then collapsed into incoherent policy-making and political chaos, with hyper-inflation and a drastic increase in insurgent violence as a result. The social costs of that collapse have been grave indeed, and the worst victims have been the nation's poor, who were already subsisting at deplorable levels prior to the crisis. Paradoxically, one of the priorities of the APRA government upon coming to power in 1985 was the improvement of the precarious situation of the nation's poor and marginalised population in the pueblos jóvenes–shanty-towns–and in the sierra. The APRA government introduced a variety of innovative strategies directed at these groups. The most highly publicised of those–the Programa de Apoyo de Ingreso Temporal (PAIT)–is the subject of this study.
Heterodox Shock in Brazil:Técnicos, Politicians, and Democracy
Authors: Sola Lourdes
Published: February 2009

The recent experiences of transition to democracy in Latin America have taken place in circumstances which suggest a need to rethink the political and social dimensions of inflation. The experience of the 1980s reveals that the once familiar road which led from an inflationary spiral and a rising foreign debt to the collapse of democracy can also be travelled by other types of regime. The crisis of the bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes, Chile apart, reflected an inability to deal with those same focal points of political and economic uncertainty. The sequence which runs from high (or hyper) inflation to political regime change may be neutral, in the sense that it is indifferent to whether the regimes affected are democratic or authoritarian.
Business and Government in Imperial Brazil: the Experience of Viscount Mauá
Authors: Barman Roderick J.
Published: February 2009

On January 28, 1808, the ports of Brazil, hitherto restricted to Portuguese vessels, were thrown open to direct trade with all friendly nations. Two months later, the ban on manufacturing in the colony was lifted. In October theBanco do Brasilwas authorized as a bank of issue designed to supply the government's credit needs and to foster internal and external trade. The most urgent financial needs of the Portuguese government, which in November 1807 had fled to its American colony in order to escape the invading forces of Napoleon I, were met by negotiating a loan in London, the leading market for capital in the Atlantic economy. Two years later, in 1810, the Portuguese government signed a treaty with Great Britain admitting British goods into Brazil at a standard duty of 17 per cent for the next fifteen years.
Pancho Villa and American Security: Woodrow Wilson's Mexican Diplomacy Reconsidered
Authors: Sandos James A.
Published: February 2009

Historians of U.S.-Mexican relations are confronted by a conundrum in the Punitive Expedition of 1916–1917. Ostensibly motivated by the attack of General Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa upon Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916, the expedition traditionally has been evaluated in terms of its supposed mission. The puzzle lies in the fact that President Woodrow Wilson publicly told the American and Mexican people one thing and privately told his field commander, John J. Pershing, quite another. Wilson's press release on the morning of March 10, 1916 announced: ‘An adequate force will be sent at once in pursuit of Villa with the single object of capturing him and putting a stop to his forays’.
Miners as Voters: The Electoral Process in Bolivia's Mining Camps
Authors: Whitehead Laurence
Published: February 2009

In the 1940s Bolivia's mineworkers achieved a major impact in national elections. The electoral system was favourable to them (far more so than after the 1952 National Revolution); they acquired a unified and effective national leadership, with extensive back-up organization in all the main mining camps; they, therefore, began casting their votes as a single block, an expression of mineworkers' exceptional degree of solidarity in various parts of the world; and the political parties that courted their votes were constrained by the demands of their electorate, not only to adopt intransigent language but actually to become more radical in their programmes, recruitment and commitments.
Rationalisation and Working Class Response: the Context and Limits of Factory Floor Activity in Argentina
Authors: James Daniel
Published: February 2009

Elisabeth Jelin, in an important recent work, has criticized the overconcern in studies of the Latin American working class with the structural determinants of class relations and class activity. As she pointed out, this has tended to lead to a deterministic approach on the part of the social sciences, emphasizing the lack of autonomy of the working class in terms of its failure to construct a comprehensive, radical challenge to the dominant system on the political level and its domination by, and acceptance of, demobilizing, bureaucratic leaderships on the trade union level.
Freight Rates in the Trade between Europe and South America, 1840–1914
Authors: Stemmer Juan E. Oribe
Published: February 2009

The purpose of this article is to examine the evolution, between 1840 and 1914, of the freight rates for bulk cargoes and general cargoes, in the trades between South American ports in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Peru, and European ports in the United Kingdom/Continent range. The article does not deal with the transport of passengers nor the exports of refrigerated foodstuffs from South America. The basic data on the freight rates charged for some of the main exports and imports in those trades are shown in Graphs i a/b (p. 24). The Appendix includes information about the methodology and the sources used for the preparation of the freight series. The freight rates quoted in the text are nominal or ‘market’ prices in decimal pounds.1
Direct Foreign Investment and Economic Development in Latin America: Perspectives for the Future
Authors: Paus Eva
Published: February 2009

Since 1982, most Latin American countries have witnessed slow economic growth and a persistent net transfer of funds to the rest of the world as a result of sharply reduced inflows of private international bank lending and large debt payment obligations. Against this background direct foreign investment (DFI) has received increasing attention as one important element in overcoming the present stagnation-cum-debt crisis as well as in contributing to renewed economic growth. This article explores the possible contributions of DFI to the future economic growth and development of the region.1
‘Living Worse and Costing More’: Resistance and Riot in Rio de Janeiro, 1890–1917
Authors: Meade Teresa
Published: February 2009

On 1st May 1917 m Rio de Janeiro, protesters took to the streets carrying placards and shouting slogans denouncing high prices and miserable living conditions. Over the succeeding months the May Day protest mushroomed into an unprecedented general strike of more than 50,000 workers in the federal capital. Rio de Janeiro had witnessed frequent protests and agitation against taxes, high prices, shortages, poor housing and public services and the cost of transport during the late Empire and first decades of the Republic.1 What was different about May Day 1917 was that complaints over consumer, community-based issues affecting the general populace triggered off a wave of trade-union militancy unique in the city's history.
The Reluctant Giant: Japan and the Latin American Debt Crisis
Authors: Stallings Barbara
Published: February 2009

The debt crisis has been the dominant feature of Latin American economic and political life since 1982. While the Reagan Administration gave greater priority to Central America, it nevertheless managed the international response to the debt crisis. US management initially seemed logical for several reasons: US hegemony worldwide, the traditionally close relationship between the United States and Latin America, and the leading exposure of US banks in Latin American debt. During the period since 1982, however, two of these three elements have changed. Japan has challenged US hegemony, although it certainly has not displaced the United States, and Japanese banks have caught up with their US counterparts as holders of Latin American debt.2Despite their lack of traditional relations with Latin America, then, the Japanese are becoming increasingly – although perhaps reluctantly – involved in the region.
Bolivia and British Tin Policy, 1939–1945
Authors: Hillman John
Published: February 2009

During the Second World War, Bolivia became the single most important source of tin for the Allies. As with other Latin American countries who were placed in the position of supplying essential raw materials,1Bolivia confronted a situation where the operation of normal market forces was suspended. Access to Axis markets was denied, and prices were set through government intervention, often at widely divergent levels in different markets. As a result, the impression was created that the poor producers were prevented from enjoying a wartime bonanza by exploitative collusion on the part of the rich consumers.
A Case Study of Effects of Developing Country Integration on Trade Flows: The Andean Pact
Authors: Khazeh Khashayar , Clark Don P.
Published: February 2009

Cooperation among developing countries in the form of economic integration has received increased attention as a development strategy. About one-half of all developing countries currently participate in integration schemes.1 Yet there have been few attempts to measure the effects on trade flows associated with these integration efforts.2 The scarcity of such studies stems from a dissatisfaction on the part of some investigators regarding the applicability to developing countries of evaluative criteria formulated by Viner to assess world-wide allocative gains from industrial nation integration schemes.3 A lack of interest in the traditional method of evaluating integration efforts is also motivated by the expectation that static gains will be small or nonexistent in developing country integration schemes, where even collectively markets are often small and members display little differences in relative factor endowments.
Fiscal Policy, the Current Account and the External Debt Problem in the Dominican Republic
Authors: Cuddington John T. , Asilis Carlos
Published: February 2009

Although the Dominican Republic had one of the highest economic growth rates in the world between 1969 and 1973, its growth performance and external position deteriorated sharply in the 1970s. By 1985 it had an external debt/GDP ratio of 76.6%, well above the average of 62.3% for the Latin American and Caribbean region as a whole.1 The Dominican debt crisis that emerged in the 1980s, like the crisis in many other debtridden Less Developed Countries (LDCs), was in part caused by adverse external conditions; in part, however, it was the result of domestic policy choices. Among the latter, large fiscal imbalances are arguably the most important.2
Between Confrontation and Accommodation: Military and Government Policy in Democratic Argentina
Authors: Pion-Berlin David
Published: February 2009

After a prolonged period of authoritarian rule, the rebirth of democracy in Latin America has prompted a resurgent interest in civilian control of the armed forces. Few disagree that political leaders will be unable to consolidate their democratic gains without resolving ‘la cuestión militar’. Given the history of military political intervention in the region, scholars have long expressed scepticism over whether governments can ever fully subject the armed forces to their political will. Recently, the terms on which power has been transferred from military to civilian hands and developments subsequent to the transfer have prompted an even greater anxiety about the future of some of these new and fragile democracies.
The Estado Docente and its Expansion: Spanish American Elementary Education, 1900–1950
Authors: Newland Carlos
Published: February 2009

Among the most outstanding changes that occurred in Spanish America during the first half of the twentieth century is the transformation in the area of education. Two salient features deserve emphasis. First, this change was quantitative: many more children came to attend school, and a greater proportion of the inhabitants became literate. Second, this increase in schooling came about within a homogeneous institutional framework. It was the Estado Docente – personified in national and provincial governments – which was the principal vehicle for educational services and which determined the contents of the curricula. The purpose of this article is to present a brief sketch of the most significant characteristics of this transformation.
Informal Empire in Argentina: an Alternative View
Authors: Hopkins A. G.
Published: February 2009

Andrew Thompson's review of the long-running debate on informal empire will be welcomed both by specialists, who need to be reminded from time to time that many trees do sometimes make a forest, and by teachers, who need help in guiding their students through both. The comments that follow are therefore offered in a constructive spirit that is wholly in accord with Thompson's purpose in trying to take hold of a notoriously slippery concept. My aim in citing his work is to identify the batch of established arguments that his essay faithfully represents. The intention is to move the debate forward: the temptation to readvertise familiar positions will be avoided as far as is possible; the risk of drowning the argument in an excess of detail is removed by limitations of space.
For God or Country: History Textbooks and the Secularization of Chilean Society, 1840–1890
Authors: Woll Allen L.
Published: February 2009

The relations between Church and State in nineteenth-century Chile remained relatively calm when compared with the tumultuous events occurring in Mexico during the same era. While the question of the role of the Church in a secular society divided both nations, it was resolved in Chile without violence or bloodshed. Although President Manuel Montt's assertion of civil authority in the ‘affair of the sacristan’ in 1856 angered the clerical hierarchy, there was little that could be done by a church of less wealth, power and influence than in Mexico. Yet, the slow erosion of colonial fueros was not accepted without clerical resistance, which delayed the constitutional reforms limiting the Church's powers in Chile until the 1880s.
The Politics of Instability in Ecuador: The Overthrow of the President, 1961
Authors: Pyne Peter
Published: February 2009

On 7 November 1961, a crucial date in modern Ecuadorian political history, Dr José María Velasco Ibarra, constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador, was deposed from his high office and sought refuge in the Mexican Embassy. The apparent stability that had characterized the country's political life since 1948 was shattered. The pattern of politics since November 1961 is similar in many respects to that which occurred in the decades between the two World Wars. Coups d'état, dictatorships and military juntas are political phenomena common to both periods. The military intervention which to Velasco's dewnfall in 1961 re-established a convention which had been dormant since 1947.
Peasants and Revolutionaries: Some Critical Comments
Authors: Redclift Michael
Published: February 2009

Professor Joan Thirsk has recently argued that the history of the peasant is not one history, but several. The demise of the peasant, insisted Professor Thirsk cogently, should be seen against the background of particular farming systems and the stages in their evolution. However obvious this point might be to an historian of sixteenth-century England, it is often lost on sociologists of contemporary Latin America. All too often attempts are made to assess the revolutionary potential of the Latin American ‘peasant’ without distinguishing clearly enough between sections of the rural population, and placing them within the context of the land-tenure system. Failure to distinguish between different groups of peasant farmers has important implications not only for academic research but also for Government policy.
British Neutrality and Spanish—American Independence: The Problem of Foreign Enlistment
Authors: Waddell D. A. G.
Published: February 2009

Throughout the Spanish–American wars of independence Britain's policy was to observe a strict neutrality between Spain and the colonial revolutionaries. This did not reflect an indifferent detachment or a commitment to even-handed justice, but was rather dictated by the pursuit of Britain's own interests, which necessitated the maintenance of good relations both with Spain and with Spanish America. During the period of the Peninsular War of 1808–14 Spain was a vital ally against Napoleon, and after the war was over she remained an important element in the European collective security system that Lord Castlereagh, the British Foreign Secretary, constructed to prevent the re-emergence of French dominance. Accordingly Britain refused requests from the revolutionary regimes in South America to recognise their independence or to help them to defend it against the mother country. At the same time Britain declined to assist her Spanish ally in recovering control over the rebellious territories, as she had no desire to imperil the important commerical links she was developing with the emergent states of Spanish America. Both parties continued to try to enlist British assistance, and both of them at times complained of breaches of neutrality by British officials. But for several years Britain walked her tightrope very successfully.
Pennisular Finance and Colonial Trade: the Dilemma of Charles IV's Spain
Authors: Barbier Jacques A.
Published: February 2009

Charles IV's rule over the Spanish empire has often been decried as neglectful and reactionary. In a recent article, however, I argued that such descriptions were not accurate, maintaining that the early years of the reign pushed forward many institutional innovations and showed a marked concern for colonial affairs. This is not to say, of course, that the death of Charles III produced no change; but the critical facts were that economic policy-making continued to be based on the colonial compact and that the crown remained as committed to providing economic benefits to Spanish agriculture and manufacturing as to securing relief for the Peninsular treasury.1 Although 1788–9 may properly be characterized as a moment of truth for Spain, one which brought to the surface conflicting interests and ideologies, the Peninsula's transformation by the Bourbon Reforms was not so deep nor the government's circumstances so dire as to upset the political balance.
Studying Latin American Political Parties: Dimensions Past and Present
Authors: Martz Mary Jeanne Reid
Published: February 2009

…the record would seem to suggest that Latin American political studies have more often than not been unimaginative in concept and pedestrian in approach. A certain healthy eclecticism has been diluted by a Pavlovian tendency to respond to passing fads within the discipline. Political scientists committed to Latin American studies have in recent years rushed to follow the the comparative pack. They have distinctly been trend-followers rather than trend-setters.
New Thoughts on Military Intervention in Latin American Politics: The Chilean Case, 1973
Authors: Nunn Frederick M.
Published: February 2009

Every state must maintain constant control of its own development, in order to influence opportunely any situation affecting its growth. Its cultural objectives and its civilization, the increase in national power by way of augmenting the capacity of its citizens, and permanent regard for national security are the bases for harmonious progress of the state; in planning its growth it must be clearly established what is to be accomplished, always considering that every state should aspire to attain the greatest possible extension and capacity.
The Soldier as Radical: the Peruvian Military Government, 1968–1975
Authors: Philip George
Published: February 2009

Most recent literature on military government is extremely skeptical of the possibility of effective military reformism. This scepticism, encouraged by various behavioural hypotheses, has been further strengthened by a number of cross-sectional analyses, which seem to show that most military governments are unstable, conservative, and indifferent at economic management.1 The military government in Peru, therefore, appears to be something of an exception. Its first President, General Velasco, stayed in office for nearly seven years, and his successor, General Morales Bermúdez, has promised that the nature of the regime will not be drastically changed. Even more important, the Government claims to have carried out a comprehensive set of agrarian, industrial and social reforms that were aimed at bringing Peru out of its former underdevelopment. Moreover, the Government has claimed to have achieved all this during a seven-year period in which the conventional criteria of economic success – a substantial growth in real income per capita, a moderate rate of inflation and a reasonably stable exchange rate – also appear to have been met.
Peru: the Political Economy of an Intermediate Regime
Authors: Fitzgerald E. V. K.
Published: February 2009

Any attempt to define the changes in the Peruvian political economy that have taken place since 1968 1 must be made in terms of the relationship between the state and domestic capital on the one hand and foreign capital on the other, and must offer an explanation of the way in which this military- controlled state has tended to replace the former and establish a new relationship with the latter. In particular, the confrontation between the government and foreign capital, and the significance of internal ownership reforms cannot be understood without reference to the development of Peruvian capitalism before 1968.
The Making of the Grace Contract: British Bondholders and the Peruvian Government, 1885–1890
Authors: Miller Rory
Published: February 2009

For most of the Latin American countries the five years between 1885 and 1890 were a period of rapid economic expansion. European investors sank their money there as the trade of the area increased. To take one example, imports to Britain from Argentina expanded from under a million pounds in 1880 to over four million in 1890, while British exports to Argentina grew from two and a half million to eight and a half million pounds.1Exports of Chilean nitrate rose from 275,000 tons in 1880 to 1,000,000 tons in 1890, as foreign capitalists invested heavily in the newly-conquered northern territories of Chile.2Most Latin American countries borrowed increasing amounts of capital on the London market as their trade grew rapidly, and the boom only came to an end with the Baring crisis of 1890.
Latin America in the Foreign Relations of the United States
Authors: Connell-Smith Gordon
Published: February 2009

In the rhetoric of United States foreign relations, the countries of Latin America occupy a very special place. They are ‘our sister republics’, ‘the Good Neighbours’, fellow members of a unique international system, and so on. The reality, not surprisingly, is different. Because of the vast disparity of power between the United States and Latin America, relations between them are inherently delicate and subject to strains. The issue of ‘intervention’ by the United States in the internal and external affairs of the Latin American countries is ever present, whether it is a matter of marines being sent into a small Caribbean republic or of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ‘destabilizing’ a major South American government.
Chinese Plantation Workers and Social Conflict in Peru in the late Nineteenth Century
Authors: Gonzales Michael J.
Published: February 2009

As the world capitalist system developed during the nineteenth century non-slave labour became a commodity that circulated around the globe and contributed to capital accumulation in metropolitan centres. The best examples are the emigration of millions of Asian indentured servants and European labourers to areas of European colonisation. Asians replaced emancipated African slaves on plantations in the Caribbean and South America, supplemented a declining slave population in Cuba, built railways in California, worked in mines in South Africa, laboured on sugarcane plantations in Mauritius and Fiji, and served on plantations in southeast Asia. Italian immigrants also replaced African slaves on coffee estates in Brazil, worked with Spaniards in the seasonal wheat harvest in Argentina, and, along with other Europeans, entered the growing labour market in the United States. From the perspective of capital, these workers were a cheap alternative to local wage labour and, as foreigners without the rights of citizens, they could be subjected to harsher methods of social control.1
Foreign Capital, Local Interests and Railway Development in Argentina: French Investments in Railways, 1900–1914
Authors: Regalsky Andres M.
Published: February 2009

Between 1900 and 1914, Argentina experienced the period of greatest growth of its railway network (see Fig. 1). During this time its total length was increased by about 12,000 miles, thus improving on the increase achieved during the railway boom of the 1880s. As before, the new peak was associated with a massive inflow of foreign capital which reached record levels: about 2,000 million gold pesos, against 800 millions during the 1880s. Furthermore, the new railway constructions were mainly made after 1907 and located in the pampas (see Tables 1 and 2). This rapid growth has been explained by many authors mainly as a global consequence of the so-called Mitre law (national law 5315), sanctioned in 1907, which standardised railway legislation in a way that favoured foreign investors, giving rise to an investment boom, especially among the British groups settled in the pampas.1
Puerto Rican Populism Revisited: the PPD during the 1940s
Authors: Pantojas-Garcia Emilio
Published: February 2009

Introduction: Puerto Rican scholars have recently undertaken the task of re-interpreting the populist political project of the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) during the decade of the 1940s. The new studies on this subject have focused on the class basis of the PPD's leadership, the class interests articulated in the policies adopted by the PPD government, and the structural context within which this party came to power and implemented its programme.
Wild Rubber: Industrial Organisation and the Microeconomics of Extraction During the Amazon Rubber Boom(1860–1920)
Authors: Barham Bradford , Coomes Oliver
Published: February 2009

Concern over the fate of the rain forest and peoples of Amazonia has inspired a renewed interest in the extraction of natural products from the region. Accounts of the Amazon Rubber Boom (1860–1910) are of particular interest in view of the dominance of the rubber industry during one of the most influential periods in the region's history as well as the continuing economic importance of wild rubber extraction to thousands of Amazonian households today. For many observers, the organisation and performance of the wild rubber industry – then and now – provides a good illustration of extractive industries in Amazonia.
Cardenismo: Juggernaut or Jalopy?
Authors: Knight Alan
Published: February 2009

Historians all agree that the Cárdenas presidency was a crucial period in the development of twentieth-century Mexico. They would not agree as to the reasons for its importance. The range of interpretations is so wide and, at times, so nuanced, that it is risky to try to summarise the underlying disagreements. However, there are certain key differences which can be emphasised; and I shall begin this article with a quick review of what I consider those key differences to be.
José Martí and the United States: A Further Interpretation
Authors: Kirk John M.
Published: February 2009

‘El hombre más puro de la raza’. This opinion of the Chilean poetess Gabriela Mistral sums up the general feelings of all critics and historians who have studied Martí's life: both as a Cuban patriot and as a sincere human being Martí evokes admiration from all sides. The same cannot be said, however, about his copious writings – twenty-seven volumes in the latest edition (Editorial Nacional de Cuba) — which have led to many differences of interpretation: for some he is the embodiment of Marxist philosophy, while others have shown how little his views have in common with orthodox Socialism. Within Cuba itself, political leaders as diverse in their ideals as Carlos Prío, Fulgencio Batista and Fidel Castro have all claimed to be putting into practice the philosophy of Martí.
Unlikely Transitions to Uncertain Regimes? Democracy without Compromise in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador
Authors: Conaghan Catherine M. , Espinal Rosario
Published: February 2009

Charting the historical paths to democracy has been a long-standing concern of political sociology.1With the demise of authoritarian rule in Latin America over the last decade, a classic question of the genre has resurfaced: are there certain developmental sequences that are more likely to produce successful transitions to democracy? If there is any conclusion to be drawn from recent experiences, the answer is no. Highly heterogeneous circumstances have produced Latin America's most recent wave of democratisation. From the Caribbean to the Southern Cone, countries at different levels of economic development, with distinctive authoritarian legacies and divergent class structures, all underwent transitions to elected civilian governments in the last decade.
The individual in the ‘Cartorial State’
Authors: Calvert Peter
Published: February 2009

A selection of recent books from and about Mexico is, as ever, likely to be very varied. The works considered here might seem at first sight to have little enough in common. Yet behind them all lies the great debate that has gone on in Mexico since 1968 about the meaning of the past, present and future of the Mexican Revolution.
An Alternative toEncomienda:Puebla'sIndios de Servicio, 1531–45
Authors: Hirschberg Julia
Published: February 2009

Dominating the early decades of Spain's New World settlement was the question of how best to apportion the fruits of conquest. Colonists urgedRepartimiento General, the division among worthy settlers of all lands inseñorioand all indians in hereditaryencomienda. Only aristocratic rewards, they claimed, could attract men of quality to the New World. Onlycaballeroscould hold colonies already won and conquer more lands for Spain. Yet, if such demands were met, the Crown could expect little profit from its colonial empire, however large and secure.
Before the Nitrate Era: British Commission Houses and the Chilean Economy, 1851–80
Authors: Mayo John
Published: February 2009

The years between the election of Manuel Montt as President of Chile in 1851 and the outbreak of the War of the Pacific in 1879 were years of considerable expansion in the Chilean economy despite occasional setbacks which were generally followed by renewed prosperity. Government activity assisted this growth: Montt's administration, in particular, passed laws and followed policies designed to help commerce and industry and to establish the infrastructure of a modern economy.1 However, the country's increased wealth came from greater production for export in the traditional economy, using largely traditional methods, rather than through technical innovations or the introduction of new industries. The export sector fuelled the republic's growth; not only did export receipts pay for imports, but they provided the guarantee for foreign loans, while the Government secured the bulk of its revenues from duties levied on exports and imports.
The Argentine Presidential Election of 1868
Authors: McLynn F. J.
Published: February 2009

The 1868 presidential election in Argentina repays attention on a number of counts. It was the first time that the efficacy of the formal constitutional machinery evolved in 1860 had been put to the test. It was unusual in that the result was not, on the one hand, a foregone conclusion, a mere legitimation of a choice that had already been made, nor, on the other, disputed by force of arms. It also marked a change of direction for the political elite, although the consequences of this would not work themselves through the political system until the 1870s. It is unnecessary to labour the manifold changes in Argentina in the early 1870s: massive immigration, the full impact of the railways, the beginning of the “golden age’ of British investment, the integration of Argentina into a world economy were complemented in the political sphere by the end of the Paraguayan war, the death of Urquiza, the last great caudillo, the failure of the last important separatist movement (the rebellion of López Jordán in Entre Ríos during 1870–3) outside the capital and of the porteño separatist revolt under ex—President Bartolomé Mitre in 1874.
The Evolution of the Economic Role of the Brazilian State, 1889–1930
Authors: Topik Steven
Published: February 2009

The economic role of the Brazilian State has received much attention recently from economists. Those who have studied it generally assume that the State first became economically active on a large scale after 1930 when it fostered industrialization. They also assume, often implicitly, that politicians and bureaucrats have had a great deal of freedom of action in policy formulation and that greater state economic intervention increases national independence from foreign markets and capitalists.1
The Silversmiths of Buenos Aires: A Case Study in the Failure of Corporate Social Organization
Authors: Johnson Lyman L.
Published: February 2009

Although none of the artisan or small merchant groups in colonial Buenos Aires ever achieved complete legal sanction for a guild organization, the silversmiths were more successful than any other group in creating and sustaining an officially endorsed, self-regulating, corporate structure. This structure was not created and implemented systematically. It was evolved slowly and pragmatically as a response to the changing milieu in which the silversmiths worked.
Race Versus Class Association: the Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1850–1900
Authors: Andrews George Reid
Published: February 2009

Fundamental to an understanding of the complex relationships between race and social class in Latin America is an understanding of the process by which the caste societies of the colonial and early national periods were gradually transformed into the class societies of the twentieth century. During the 1850s a number of South American nations struck down the last vestiges of their slave regimes and the colonialRégimen de castas, legislation designed to divide society into racial castes arranged in a well-defined hierarchy. Among these countries were Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay delayed until later in the century. These developments seem at first glance to have paved the way for the integration of the non-whites as fully-fledged participants in the continent' newly formed class societies, as several authors writing on the Afro-Latin Americans have concluded.