Chapter 22, Section 5 and Chapter 23, Section 1

Brazil and

Latin America and the US

Brazil covers half of South America, and it produces exports like coffee, sugar and

cocoa.

The Amazon Basin (partially in Brazil) is heavily forested and sparsely settled.

Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan.

In cities the rich and middle class live comfortably, attend good schools, and get

medical care at modern hospitals.

Nearby millions live in favelas (slums) in desperate poverty, w/o electricity, running water, or sewers.

Brazil’s “miracle”: the generals in charge welcomed foreign investment and developed

steel, chemicals, and heavy machinery industries. They supported development plans for the

interior.

The government kept wages low to encourage foreign investment. Industrial workers struggled.

The government encourages settlement into the interior to help develop Brazil’s forests and

mineral resources.

Farmers cut and burn forests, hurting the Earth’s atmosphere. Desert-like conditions are created. Settlers spread disease to Indians of the rainforest.

In the 1820s Spain prepared to reconquer its American colonies. The US pronounced the

Monroe Doctrine (after Pres. James Monroe) in 1823, outlawing colonization in the Americas.

Under Theodore Roosevelt, The US fomented a rebellion to declare Panama independent from

Columbia. In 1903 Panama granted the US a ten-mile wide “canal zone”.

The Panama Canal

In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt instituted the “Good Neighbor Policy”. Still, big US companies owned large parts of Latin America nations. It was also

the chief trading partner of most LA nations.

The US controlled Puerto Rico starting in 1898. To counter an independence movement, the US

gave citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917.

It has its own constitution, governor and legislature. Its citizens must obey the laws of the US but not pay federal taxes.