Latin America Since 1945

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True/False

Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false.

By the 1960s, Latin American countries had become industrially independent of the United States, Europe, and Japan.

The rapid increase of industrialization in Latin America led to a rise in the economy of the countryside.

The Organization of American States called for an end to military action by one state against another.

The Bay of Pigs invasion was a military success.

The Cuban missile crisis caused Castro to realize that the Soviet Union was unreliable.

Because of its commitment to the Organization of American States, the United States did not get involved in the revolution in El Salvador.

Manuel Noriega, the leader of Panama, was arrested and sent to prison in the United States for drug trafficking.

In Chile, the Pinochet regime instituted some reforms to grant civil rights to the people.

Multiple Choice

Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

After World War II, many Latin American nations suffered economic difficulties because of

a.	overdependence on foreign nations and a dramatic increase in population.
b.	oppressive military governments and ongoing wars between religions.
c.	political separation from the U.S. and ongoing wars between nations.
d.	the rise of the drug lords and a dramatic decrease in population.

10.

Early in the twentieth century, the government of ____ was dominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

a.	Mexico	c.	Honduras
b.	Nicaragua	d.	Chile

11.

What significant event occurred on January 1, 1959?

a.	Cuba’s government was overthrown by Castro’s forces.
b.	The Bay of Pigs invasion started.
c.	The Cuban missile crisis ended.
d.	Oil reserves were discovered in Haiti.

12.

Revolutionary leader Ché Guevara was killed while fighting in which nation?

a.	Argentina	c.	Bolivia
b.	Cuba	d.	Bora Bora

13.

General ____ overthrew Salvador Allende to become military dictator of Chile in 1973.

a.	Juan Perón	c.	Juan Valdez
b.	Augusto Pinochet	d.	Juan Velasco Alvarado

14.

In the late 1970s, vast new oil reserves were discovered in which nation?

a.	Colombia	c.	Panama
b.	Peru	d.	Mexico

15.

On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro’s forces overthrew the government led by

a.	Vicente Fox.	c.	José López Portillo.
b.	Gabriela Mistral.	d.	Fulgencio Batista.

16.

Which U.S. president was in office during the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis?

a.	Richard Nixon	c.	John F. Kennedy
b.	Jimmy Carter	d.	Ronald Reagan

17.

____ overthrew the government of Nicaragua, but later lost control of the country in free elections.

a.	Manuel Noriega	c.	the Freedom Party
b.	the Sandinistas	d.	the Somoza family

18.

The term “cooperative” refers to

a.	a corporation with divisions in more than two countries.
b.	the transition to democratic elections after a period of rule by a military dictator.
c.	the transition from a Communist to a free-market economy.
d.	a farm owned and operated by a group of peasant workers.

19.

Why did the Sandinistas wage a guerrilla war?

a.	to uphold the current government
b.	to oust Somoza family from the government
c.	to prevent a Communist takeover of Nicaragua
d.	to help stop the drug trade

20.

The United States attempted unsuccessfully to prevent the election of Socialist Salvador Allende as president of what country?

a.	Argentina	c.	El Salvador
b.	Chile	d.	Venezuela

21.

Which country improved social systems, such as education, but also suspended elections?

a.	Argentina	c.	Cuba
b.	El Salvador	d.	Mexico

22.

Which country waged war against Great Britain for control of the Falkland Islands?

a.	Argentina	c.	El Salvador
b.	Chile	d.	Nicaragua

23.

In which Latin American country did a military regime nullify election results?

a.	Argentina	c.	Panama
b.	Chile	d.	Peru

24.

Based on the information in the above table, which was the first country to have been subject to a military takeover?

a.	Argentina	c.	Panama
b.	Chile	d.	Peru

25.

Based on the information on this timeline, what is the order in which these presidents were overthrown?

a.	Somoza, Batista, Allende, Aristide	c.	Batista, Allende, Aristide, Somoza
b.	Batista, Allende, Somoza, Aristide	d.	Somoza, Batista, Aristide, Allende

The first official [U.S.] reason for the invasion of Panama was “to protect American lives there.” This pretext was not credible, for the cry of “wolf! wolf!” has been used before in Latin America . . . The danger to American lives is a hundred times greater every day and night in Washington, D.C., “the murder capital of the United States,” and in other American cities to which President Bush has hardly applied his policy of protecting North American lives and waging war against drugs (he prefers to wage that war on foreign battlefields).

Latin American Civilization: History and Society, 1492 to the Present, Benjamin Keene, 1996

26.

The writer doubts the official American reasons for invading Panama because ____.

a.	American cities are more dangerous and violent than cities in Panama
b.	the president is not concerned with problems in American cities
c.	the war on drugs is already won
d.	the United States military could easily win a war in Panama

27.

The writer’s opinion of the Bush administration’s war on drugs is ____.

a.	enthusiastic	c.	approving
b.	fearful	d.	cynical

It is not easy to live in a war zone.The least of it was my being kidnapped by contras earlier this year. The hard part is seeing people die and consoling families....In those eight hours I was held, as I walked in a column of 60 or so men and a few women—all in uniform—I could hear shooting and I realized that people I knew were being killed. Earlier I had seen bodies being brought back to town, some burned, some cut to pieces.

— Latin American Civilization: History and Society, 1492 to the Present

Benjamin Keene, 1996

28.

The writer identifies her captors as ____.

a.	Marxist guerrillas	c.	Sandinistas
b.	contras	d.	bandits

29.

What is the writer’s source of information?

a.	personal experience	c.	government officials
b.	news accounts	d.	second-hand reports

The application of revolutionary justice was the cause of the first schism between Cuban public opinion and that of the rest of the non-Communist world. Cuba was world news in 1959. But Cuba had been forgotten during the Batista dictatorship. Widespread torture, murder, theft, and the total denial of human rights practiced by Batista's government were little known outside Cuba. In the eyes of the world, deposed Cuban officials were being executed. So far as the Cubans were concerned, the tribunals were judging notorious criminals.

The foreigner, especially the North American, [emphasizes] the legal aspects of the revolutionary trials. The Cuban was interested in moral justice. When a man who had boasted of killing dozens of men while protected by his Batista uniform was executed, the Cubans believed justice was served. The rest of the world concentrated on criticism of the revolutionary judicial process. Perhaps both were right, but they were miles apart.

— Rufo Lopez-Fresquet

30.

According to the writer, who had denied human rights to the people of Cuba?

a.	Castro’s communist guerrillas	c.	North Americans
b.	revolutionary tribunals	d.	the Batista government

31.

According to the writer, what aspect of the tribunals was emphasized by foreign observers?

a.	sensational accounts of the crimes	c.	criticism of the judicial process
b.	the harsh sentences imposed	d.	stories of Batista’s corruption

32.

[T]he immense majority of Mexico’s villages and citizens own only the ground on which they stand. They suffer the horrors of poverty without being able to better their social status in any respect, or without being able to dedicate themselves to industry or agriculture due to the fact that the lands, woods, and water are monopolized by a few. For this reason, through prior compensation, one-third of such monopolies will be expropriated [taken] from their powerful owners in order that the villages and citizens of Mexico may obtain ejidos [communal farmland within a village], colonies, town sites, and rural properties for sowing or tilling, and in order that the welfare and prosperity of the Mexican people will be promoted in every way.

From “In His Own Words: Sandino’s Autobiography” from Nicaraguan Perspectives. No. 16

(Winter 1988/89)

How did Sandino propose to obtain land for Mexico’s poor farmers?

a.	Wealthy landowners would be jailed and all their land seized.
b.	The current owners would be encouraged to donate land voluntarily.
c.	The government would negotiate prices with landowners to purchase land as needed.
d.	One-third of the lands held by rich families would be purchased for prior compensation and given to poor, landless farmers.

Matching

Match each item with the correct statement below.

a.	Cuba	f.	Gabriela Mistral
b.	Gabriel García Márquez	g.	Nicaragua
c.	Panama	h.	Mexico
d.	Fulgencio Batista	i.	Fidel Castro
e.	El Salvador	j.	Brazil

33.

nation in which vast new oil reserves were discovered in the 1970s

34.

famous poet from Chile

35.

nation whose government was overthrown by the Sandinistas

36.

Cuban dictator overthrown by Fidel Castro

37.

nation placed under a U.S. trade embargo in 1960

38.

country rocked by civil war in the late 1970s and 1980s

39.

winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982

40.

nation that suffered years of severe inflation after an “economic miracle”

41.

Latin American leader who declared himself a Marxist in December 1961

42.

nation formerly ruled by Manuel Noriega