Articles
An Aristocracy of Pull?, by Thomas M. Wilson,
The Freeman, Aug 2001
In Spanish America, it should be recalled, the wars of independence in the early nineteenth century were not revolutions. They were reactionary rebellions led by native-born elites, known as criollos, aimed at restoring the monarchial system toppled by Napoleon's invasion of Spain and ouster of Ferdinand VII.
The Authority of a Foreign Talisman: A Study of U.S. Constitutional Practice as Authority in Nineteenth Century Argentina and the Argentine Elite's Leap of Faith, by Jonathan M. Miller,
American University Law Review, Jun 1997
Examines the history of Argentine law prior to adoption of the 1853 Constitution, the arguments in Alberdi's
Bases and the influence of the U.S. Constitution during the remainder of the 19th century and up to 1930
According to [Atilio] Borón and many others, Latin American societies were unprepared for liberal constitutional models at the time of independence. Latin America, with a colonial history of Hispanic authoritarianism, huge landholdings and little self-government, lacked the traditions needed to support constitutions based on liberal values, and as a consequence, the new constitutions lacked the necessary psychological acceptance. By contrast, the United States, with a tradition of colonial self-government and of protecting fundamental rights, was well prepared ...
Capitalism and Statism in Latin America, by
Manuel Ayau, 4 Oct 1997
Speech given to The Philadelphia Society, San Antonio, Texas regional meeting
South and Central America have suffered and lived under ... mercantilism, inherited from Spain and Portugal since colonial days, with the few exceptional decades in the end of last century and beginning of the present ... Those few decades were followed by the combination and succession of the unfortunate events that dominated most of this century, and Latin America abandoned the successful capitalistic policies prevailing in the leading countries, and reverted to mercantilism under one name or another, some times under elected governments and other times under dictatorships.
Give Freedom Its Turn in Latin America, by
Manuel F. Ayau,
Imprimis, Nov 1984
Paper delivered as part of a seminar in the Center for Constructive Alternatives; argues that problems in Latin American countries are systemic and are due to a "lack of understanding of the economic principles and ethics of a free society"
Latin America is well known for its endemic political instability, coups d'etat, widespread underdevelopment, monetary instability, disproportionate foreign debts, corruption, violence, and recently, the implausible scenario of oil-rich countries going broke ... Yet the image that these countries project does not correspond to the character of their people. By far the overwhelming majority are decent, hard-suffering people, trying to make good in a constantly decreasing sphere of free or less hampered activities.
A Modest Proposal for the Next Drug-War Shootdown, by
James Bovard,
Freedom Daily, Aug 2001
Offers recommendations (some tongue in cheek, later serious) after the shootdown by the Peruvian air force of a Cessna carrying American Baptist missionaries (but claimed to carry traffickers)
[H]undreds—if not thousands—of innocent Latin American civilians have been killed in the drug war in the last decade ... The CIA wizards were not fluent in Spanish ... Spanish has been the dominant language in Peru for the past 300 or 400 years. If the CIA cannot even post people who speak the language to the narco-war-zones, what chance is there that its contract employees will be competent in other ways? After all, with all the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on the drug war, can't they spare a few hundred for Spanish lessons for CIA officials operating in Latin America?
Non-Marxist Theories of Imperialism, by Alan Fairgate,
Reason, Feb 1976
Examines writings of critics of imperialism that are not based on Marxist analysis
This analysis of the impact of imperialism could be usefully supplemented by Stanislav Andreski's discussion of domestic class structures in Latin America in Parasitism and Subversion ... Andreski analyzed in detail the various institutional forms of parasitism endemic to the semi-feudal societies of Latin America, and focused on the characteristic 'parasitic involution' of capitalism. While he tended to dismiss the role of external intervention in reinforcing such parasitic structures, his work nevertheless complements Liggio's focus on imperialism as the imposition of a double layer of exploitation.
Related Topics:
Banking,
John Bright,
Richard Cobden,
John T. Flynn,
Foreign entanglements,
Garet Garrett,
Imperialism,
Leonard Liggio,
Militarism,
George Orwell,
Murray N. Rothbard,
Jean-Baptiste Say,
Joseph Schumpeter,
Adam Smith,
Joseph R. Stromberg,
William Graham Sumner
Books
Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America
by Ted Galen Carpenter, 2003
Partial contents: Thirty Years of Failure - Forging the Bad Neighbor Policy - Escalating and Militarizing the Drug War - Plan Colombia - A Mix of Flawed Strategies - Washington's "Ugly-American" Tactics - Reaping the Whirlwind - Mexico: The Next Colombia?
