sisal (Mexico): binder twine for mechanical harvesters
bananas (Central America)
beef (Argentina)
cacao (Ecuador)
coffee (Brazil, Guatamala)
sugar (Cuba)
imported from Europe, United States
textiles
machinery
tools
weapons
luxury goods
European investment
large-scale investment of European capital in Latin America
$10 billion between 1870 and 1919
mostly from Great Britain
invested more in Argentina than its own colony in India
also France, Germany, Italy, United States
1910: U.S. business interests controlled 40% of Mexican property, produced half of its oil
capital mostly used for railroads
funnel Latin American exports to coast to ship overseas
Mexico:
1876: 390 miles of railroad
1910: 15,000 miles of railroad
1915: Argentina had more track per person than United States (22,000 miles of railroad)
Becoming like Europe?
economies growing; more production
population increased from 33 million (1850) to 77 million (1912) as public health measures improved
safe drinking water
inoculation (immunity by exposure)
sewers
campaigns to eliminate mosquitoes that carried yellow fever
Urbanization
“Latin American cities lost their colonial cobblestones, white-plastered walls, and red-tiled roofs. They became modern metropolises, comparable to urban giants anywhere. Streetcars swayed, telephones jangled, and silent movies flickered from Montevideo and Santiago to Mexico City and Havana” - scholar
Buenos Aires: Argentina’s metropolitan center
750,000 people in 1900
billed itself as “Paris of South America”
educated elite acted like Europeans
drank tea in afternoon
discussed European literature, philosophy, fashion
often spoke French
Attracting Europeans
civilization, progress, modernity were apparently derived from Europe
many Latin American countries actively sought to increase “white” populations
deliberately recruited impoverished Europeans
promised new, prosperous life in New World (often unfulfilled)
Argentina had largest wave of European immigrants (2.5 million between 1870 and 1915); mostly from Spain and Italy
Brazil, Uruguay also attracted substantial numbers of European newcomers