Latin American Idiot Analysis

The Latin American economy has been plagued with many issues stemming from external factors. Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot and Open Veins of Latin America discuss the many issues of Latin America and the external factors such as other nations greed or colonialism. Latin American Idiot takes a satirical tone in describing how three authors feel a “Latin American idiot” could shift the blame to other nations for the extreme poverty in Latin America. Open Veins of Latin America takes the perspective of placing blaming on other colonialist nations through their “structural exploitations of Latin America’s resources and peoples by the global colonial powers since the fifteenth century.” (Galeano 175) Each of the two pieces is firm in
However, the intrusion of multinational companies are viewed by some Latin American’s as enemies of prosperity. In reality, multinational companies are merely in search of profit and have made large investments in the countries in which they open factories. Major automakers were looking to make “Brazil to be something like the second industrial automotive capital in the Western Hemisphere.” (245) This is only possible by a twelve billion dollar investment from major automakers. Aside from massive financial investments companies share a deep interest in labor with General Motors, for example employing “100,000 Mexicans, Colombians, Chileans, Venezuelans, and Brazilians.” (245) The primary purpose of a major multinational company might be to make a profit, but there is also a significant level of investment in the local economies through either monetary investments or
While the title may allude to the primary focus being on Latin America, there is a heavy focus on a comparison between Latin American struggles and that of Colonial America with Great Britain and other European states. The British had taken control over the Brazilian economy similar to Colonial America. The Brazilian economy was “orchestrated into the British symphony as the imperial supplier of gold.” (Galeano 179) Consequently, Latin American colonies were the primary sources of labor for the luxury goods used to pamper the ruling classes of European nations, as such Latin American industries were geared towards exports. However, in modern society the underdeveloped countries are denied the right to protect their national industries, as well as having interference from the state is discouraged by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. (181) Within Latin America, the “application of IMF formulas opened the gates to let foreign conquers into an already scorched land.” (181) However, the policies put in place by the IMF helped to constrict the Latin American economy by restricting internal credit and freezing wages, which led to a sharp monetary devaluation. The monetary devaluation was supposed to return the currency to its actual value and increase exports, but instead