In topic 3 we discussed populism and revolution in Latin American countries. These two political movements emerged as alternatives to then existing governments that favored the wealthy elite of Latin America. We asked three major questions: What was the populist movement? What was the revolutionary movement? And how did they relate? The populist movement in Latin America began in the 1930s and 1940s. Although different by case, populism across Latin America had overarching similarities. Populist platforms across Latin America were built on the working class. Populist parties in Latin America supported higher worker wages, job security, welfare, public healthcare, and public education with varying degrees of success depending on the case.
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The only successful case is Cuba. The revolutionary movements in Latin America were based on Marxist ideals, with the working class as the base driven by the revolutionary guard. Unlike populists, the goals of revolutionaries were not moderate. They thought all other sides weren’t radical enough. They fought against the increasing wage gap and inequality, and they were pro-labor. In the case of Cuba, middle-class radicals lead by Fidel and Raul Castro as well as Ernesto Guevara fought to achieve socialist values. They favored the worker’s rights that populists did. However, unlike populists the revolutionaries (in theory) focused exclusively on the lower class. There was no room for a wealthy land owning class in a revolutionary government, and this is one thing that led to populists viewing revolutionaries as extreme. Although not initially successful, the revolutionary movement in Cuba eventually evolved into large-scale guerrilla war with the revolutionaries coming out victorious. Cuba’s revolution was extremely influential, and inspired guerrilla movements across Latin America. Many people doubted a revolution would be successful in Latin America, especially in a less industrialized nation like Cuba. The revolution surprised other nations in Latin America, and spread fear to governments across Latin America. This fear will later become responsible for the end of the 1950s-1960s golden age of Latin America, as governments will become less moderate and more repressive to combat potential revolutionary
The only successful case is Cuba. The revolutionary movements in Latin America were based on Marxist ideals, with the working class as the base driven by the revolutionary guard. Unlike populists, the goals of revolutionaries were not moderate. They thought all other sides weren’t radical enough. They fought against the increasing wage gap and inequality, and they were pro-labor. In the case of Cuba, middle-class radicals lead by Fidel and Raul Castro as well as Ernesto Guevara fought to achieve socialist values. They favored the worker’s rights that populists did. However, unlike populists the revolutionaries (in theory) focused exclusively on the lower class. There was no room for a wealthy land owning class in a revolutionary government, and this is one thing that led to populists viewing revolutionaries as extreme. Although not initially successful, the revolutionary movement in Cuba eventually evolved into large-scale guerrilla war with the revolutionaries coming out victorious. Cuba’s revolution was extremely influential, and inspired guerrilla movements across Latin America. Many people doubted a revolution would be successful in Latin America, especially in a less industrialized nation like Cuba. The revolution surprised other nations in Latin America, and spread fear to governments across Latin America. This fear will later become responsible for the end of the 1950s-1960s golden age of Latin America, as governments will become less moderate and more repressive to combat potential revolutionary