Blogs

This week we see struggles in the region caused by an increasing influence of the Cold War and the ideologies of the period. What is interesting in many of these cases of violence are the problems of land, along with problems in the rural areas where most of the peasantry was. Also, it seems that […] read full post >>

I recently researched about the highest homicide rates among cities around the world and I was left with the staggering number of 41 out of the top 50 highest cities being from Latin America. Furthermore, through further reading of the article the site illustrates that the source of these homicides in latin america are largely […] read full post >>

In his essay, “‘Mulata, hija de negro y india’: Afro-Indigenous Mulatos in Early Colonial Mexico”, Robert C. Schwallar explores the characteristics and evolution of the Afro-Indigenous mulatto population during the Colonial Era of New Spain. The term ‘mulatto’ typically conjures the idea of “an individual born to one African and one European parent” (889). This […] read full post >>

When we look at the history of South America in the 20th century,  we see that the 1930s and the 1940s was an important period of reforms aimed at inclusion, political incorporation, and state building. However, in the case of Peru, this was not particularly the case. Peru has a history of truncated attempts at […] read full post >>

During the Week 5 readings about caudillos we examined how they were able to come to power and how the appeal of immediate and concrete rewards in exchange for military or political support from followers outweighed the abstract appeal of liberalism or citizenship. I was left wondering more about the socio-political structure of caudillismo and […] read full post >>

During week 5, we learned about the era of caudillos in Latin America and how their reign forestalled the implementation of national government, democracy and modernization. We discussed the impact of the vacuum left by independence in creating this political phenomenon that became a corner stone in Latin American political history. However, there were many […] read full post >>

This week we see struggles in the region caused by an increasing influence of the Cold War and the ideologies of the period. What is interesting in many of these cases of violence are the problems of land, along with problems in the rural areas where most of the peasantry was. Also, it seems that […] read full post >>

Constituent Assembly: One important aspect of Venezuela and its current crisis is a National Constituent Assembly. A National Constituent Assembly is a temporary parliament that is set up to draft or reform a Constitution[1]. Hugo Chavez was the first to call for a Constituent Assembly with the purpose of modifying the constitution that so far […] read full post >>

  Hugo Chavez   Hugo Chávez was born on July 28, 1954, in Sabaneta, Venezuela. He was president of Venezuela from 1999 until 2013, when he died of cancer. Early in his life he was introduced to ideas about Marxism and Communism. In 1971 he entered the Venezuelan Military Academy in Caracas, where he became […] read full post >>

During the Week 5 readings about caudillos we examined how they were able to come to power and how the appeal of immediate and concrete rewards in exchange for military or political support from followers outweighed the abstract appeal of liberalism or citizenship. I was left wondering more about the socio-political structure of caudillismo and […] read full post >>