Revolutions in 20th Century Latin America Essay

Revolutions in 20th Century Latin America - Essay Example Latin America was one of those lands which underwent frequent revolutions. Twentieth century as well as the Caribbean lands are no exceptions. This paper is intended to identify the various reasons for the revolutions in the Latin America. Due to the space constraints two revolutions are taken into account; the Cuban revolution in 1959 and 'tenants revolution' in Brazil in 1930. Any revolution is not a one night process. A whole domain of social, cultural, geographical, internal and external political and/or economical factors plays their role to evolve a revolution. Thus, before analyzing the causes of revolution, it is empirical to have a glance into the social, cultural, geographical, political and/or economical setup of the land in particular and the region in general. When we will analyze them all and try to map them on the chronology of the revolution, this way the causes would be highlighted themselves. United States of America had helped Cuba achieve independence in 1898 from the Spanish domination, thus it was quite obvious that US had an influence over the Cuban Affairs, local as well international, since the day one. The control of the United States of America on the Cuban Economy is evident from the facts that United States had control over almost half of the land of Cuba, three fifth of the railway system, almost ninety percent of electricity production and the telephone system. Furthermore, Cuba was the main supplier of various raw materials to the United States. So we can infer that though Independent, the control of USA was yet not lesser than that of British Imperials in their colonies. Furthermore, the domination did not result in the increase in the efficiency of the overall performance of the country, so there was a general opinion in the people of Cuba, that the United State is exploiting the Cuban people for their (US) interest through the dummy leaders like Batista. (Thomas) Cuban Economy before Revolution: At first look, it appears that Cuban economy was prosperous at that time. Cuba's mortality rate of 7 per thousand was the lowest in Latin America. Its infant mortality rate was by far the lowest. Cuba's mortality rate of 7 per thousand was the lowest in Latin America. Its infant mortality rate was by far the lowest. Cuba had one automobile for every 39 inhabitants, compared with Argentina's one for every 60 and Mexico's one for every 91 people. The wage rate for industrial workers in Cuba was the highest in Latin America (as of 1957) and 9th highest in the world. However, the other side of picture so dark that this appearing brightness of Cuban Economy fade away, when someone browse through these factors. The economy was too dependent on Sugar. Wealth was unevenly distributed. Unemployment was 8% in five months of sugar harvest, but for the rest of the year, it used to be around 30%. As stated above, the economic prosperity had no trickle down effect; the only beneficiaries of the si tuation were the US companies in Cuba and their Cuban associates who were working for their interests. Thus there were high social tensions among the common man of Cuba. (Seers) Political Setup in Cuba: There was no reliable democratic