What is the historical meaning of Latin America's neocolonialism - Essay Example

The historical meaning of Latin America’s “neocolonialism” is the replacement of dependence on Britain and Spain in favor of the United s. Thisdependence has caused Latin American countries to be poorer economically and have fragile government structures. Latin America does not enjoy the freedom or prosperity of the United States due to neocolonialism. Neocolonialism is the period after most Latin American countries declared their independence from Britain or Spain around the late 19th century.

The United States did not want other countries, especially Britain at first, and later the Soviet Union to get hold of Latin American countries. So after the colonist left, the United States took over and created a monoculture society (Keen and Haynes 244). Basically the United States, like Britain and Spain, encouraged exports of raw materials in exchange for monetary gain. As a result, Latin American countries put their efforts into harvesting their raw materials. Instead of building their countries during the Industrial Revolution, Latin American countries were selling raw resources that could have been used to make their countries more technologically advanced.

The result of the monoculture was a poor economy. These economies are still feeling the impact of neocolonialism. Since many Latin American countries did not have laws against strikes, unions, or minimum wage many American businesses relocated to Latin America (Keen and Hayes 246). This led to poor economies with Americans paying less than in America. With the poor economies, drugs, illegal immigration, and other criminal activities became common in some Latin American countries. This led to government destabilization.

It is common for Latin American countries to have bloody revolutions or changes in power frequently (Keen and Hayes 247. Work Cited Keen, Benjamin and Keith Haynes. A History of Latin America. New York: Wadsworth Publishing, 2008.