Latin American Culture What Has Essay

The developmentalism of the Somoza era (over 40 years of repressive government) was "part of a comprehensive strategy" by the U.S. to: a) keep the Somoza family in power; b) to ward off influences by Cuba and the U.S.S.R.; and c) create "internationally backed institutions" like the "Nicaraguan Investment Corporation" (Cervantes-Rodriguez, 200).

Meanwhile, another updated view reflects that today a few Latin America nations are emerging from "traditional agrarian to an urban industrial economy" (Riesco, 2009, p. S22) -- but other Latin American countries are just "taking early steps," Riesco explains. There have been two distinct development strategies employed in Latin America, including "state developmentalism" in the period between the 1920s roughly to the 1980s, which Riesco explains has been successful in terms of meeting economic and social progress (S22).

And in the last few decades several Latin American countries adopted what Riesco refers to as "the Washington consensus" which places importance on "business" in a "globalization" framework. Who has benefited from this phase of the Latin American developmental transition? Writing in the International Journal of Social Welfare, Riesco claims the "affluent few" are the beneficiaries of the move toward globalization, but the author adds that a "new developmental welfare state model is in the making" (S22).

On any typical day there will indeed be highly paid professionals employed by private multinational corporations going to work in Latin American countries, making good money. The vast majority of workers however -- descending by the "tens of millions" before the sun comes up -- will be packed into "noisy buses that inch through tortuous traffic" to huge factories where they will work "long hours, even on Saturdays, Sundays, and fiestas de guardar" (Riesco, S23).

Conclusion

A new development strategy is evolving in Latin America, Draibe reports.And the good news this new development approach will likely involve "civil society actors who came of age during the two previous periods" (Draibe, 2009). While this new strategy is in the evolutionary stages -- and the states are assuming appropriate regulatory roles -- observers in the global community view the possibilities for economic and social improvements as hopeful. Is a new "New Deal" (think FDR) possible in Latin America? The emergence of a developmental welfare state model indeed may be a positive event, and notwithstanding challenges, this will bode well for the world, not just Latin America.

Bibliography

Cervantes-Rodriguez, Margarita, 2009, 'Nothing (Entirely) New under the Sun: Developmentalism and Neoliberalism in Nicaragua', in Beyond Neoliberalism in Latin America?: Societies and Politics at the Crossroads, J. Burdick, P. Oxhorn, and K. Roberts, Editors. Macmillan: New York.

Draibe, Sona, and Riesco, Manuel, 2009, 'Social Policy and Development in Latin America: The Long View', Social Policy & Administration, vol. 43, 328-346.

Riesco, Manuel, 2009, 'Latin America: a new developmental welfare state model in the making? International Journal of….....