Regime Change In Latin America

Latin America is synonymous with revolutions and regime change. While, each country experienced a revolution or regime change for their own reasons it cannot be denied it is commonplace. To illustrate, from the years 1943 to 1949 eleven Latin American governments were changed by force (Stokes, 1951, 37). Also, the following is a brief list of revolutions and regime changes that occurred only in the 20th century: Mexico Revolution 1910, Argentinian Coup of 1943, Bolivia, 1952, Guatemalan Revolution 1944 and “counter revolution” of 1954, Cuba, 1959, and Nicaragua 1979. This is merely a snapshot and small sample of the revolutions and regime changes that took place in Latin America during the 20th century. It would take hundreds of pages to …show more content…
President Obama is currently the executive of the United States government, head of state, and is in charge of placing citizens in positions of power within the government while outlining legislation that impacts citizens that are not a part of the government. Regime change is “indicated primarily by a change in (or abandonment of) the principles and norms governing the nature of the regime” (Lawson, 1993, 186). A regime change could be represented by the election of a new president or by a military coup. Regime change could have a negative or positive connotation depending on the context, and does not have to be associated with revolutions. A regime change can occur without a revolution, but a revolution cannot happen without a regime change. The reason being is change is broadly defined and could indicate a change in policy, thinking, or culture by the current regime. Latin America has experienced many revolutions and regime changes throughout the years. No matter the cause the citizens are the impetus of these events. The people of Latin America are incredibly involved politically whether it be due to poor economic conditions, repression of their government, or because they are fighting for a social cause. This political consciousness permeated its way throughout South America, and eventually to …show more content…
A major factor in the instability of the island is the everyday people in Cuba were not as economically stable as one would believe. Sugar was the countries lifeblood providing the country with countless riches. However, “. . . unemployment and underemployment were high, especially during the so-called dead season when labor demand in sugar was low” (Eckstein, 1986, 503). The economic impact the sugar delivered was only felt for a short amount of time amongst those who labored in the fields. Money was good in season but once the season ended families struggled. Also, Cuba was the world’s largest sugar producer from the end of the First World War until 1959. In the first year after the world war they produced 24 percent of the world’s sugar and by 1956, due to other countries producing sugar more cheaply, that number dropped to 11 percent (Thomas, 1963, 450). With production going down families that depended on the sugar harvest were being squeezed even further. With the economic situation worsening, a greater share of the population struggling, it is no wonder revolution was prevalent among Cubans. If we take notice of the how we previously defined revolution it becomes clear that a tolerable life-experience thanks to the institution of sugar declining was changing the ideals of the country regarding their current government. Thomas goes on to say, “Cuba was not a country in