US Interventions

The above map demonstrates some of the overt US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Depending on the period and place, the US intervened in these countries in favor of US territorial expansion, protection of American business interests, or prevention of Marxist governments. Sometimes, as is the case of Nicaragua, the US military's excuse was both American business interests and Marxist ideology, as Sandino strived to remove American businesses and implement agrarian reform. You will notice that a number of the earlier invasions occurred during a time when the United States was following the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that no other foreign power could assert dominance or influence in the "backyard" of the United States. This ideology led to the Spanish American War, which saw the invasion's of Cuba and Puerto Rico to rid Spain from the hemisphere.
In later cases, we see a shift toward the protection of American business interests, namely banana, coffee, sugar and lumber companies which owned vast stretches of land across the greater Caribbean. You will see that the mapped invasions form a loose circle around the Circum Caribbean, due in part to the American led production facilities for resource exportation along the coasts of Central America and the Caribbean islands. Protection of business interests was the reason for invading Honduras in 1911, in order to install President Bonilla who promised to favor the interests of United Fruit Company.
The rationale behind the invasion of Panama is an interesting case. Following the doctrine of manifest destiny, the US had won the west and expanded into Hawaii and the Philippines, and there was a push to form a route though the Americas to link the pacific. After failed attempts to finance a canal that would cross Nicaragua, the US was determined to bring the Pacific and Atlantic oceans together in Panama, leading to the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. Its success was celebrated at the 2015 Golden Gate Exposition, which was designed to show the world that the US had fulfilled its destiny as a major world power.

Mission accomplished

Mapping Human Development

The Human Development Index (HDI) uses the measurements of life expectancy, education and per capita income in an attempt to determine the level of human development at a global scale. It uses state boundaries and averages these three measurements at a national scale, providing a general idea of the standard of living in each country. However, critics find that this a very broad approach that does not consider vast inequalities within a nation's boundaries. For example, the map below, divided into four quartiles (a fifth in black signifies no data), shows that Brazil has a high level of human development. While this may be the case overall, the map itself if flawed as it shows this result as spread evenly across the nation's boundaries in green. In reality, Brazil has a notorious level of corruption and is very unevenly "developed." This can be seen in the various paramilitary or gang controlled favelas, or in the over-exploited mining regions which can no longer provide subsistence foods for rural communities. Even in Chile, which scores among the highest on the HDI, has within its borders an uneven distribution of livelihood, particularly in the northern Atacama desert.

In class we asked whether these results are a representation of reality. While they provide a general assumption of state function and aspiration, a more accurate expression of reality would show a distribution of these averages within each country, to show which countries suffer from concentrated pockets of poor HDI, as is certainly the case in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. While some residents in heavily commercial and industrial areas are benefiting from better services and schools, other regions are literally cut off from these districts. In the case of the Honduran Mosquitia, some Miskitu communities have to fly to the port city of La Ceiba if they require medical treatment, as there are no roads and few medical services outside of those provided by missionaries.

A Moravian hospital in the Miskitu town of Ahuas, Honduras.

Precolonial Cities

Precolonial cities greatly impressed the conquistadors in both its architecture and infrastructure. The city of Tenochtitlan used intricate fords and waterways, laying out some of the earliest paths in what today is Mexico City. In Cusco, the Incan Empire's crown jewel was the city of Cusco. Shaped like a puma, it linked urban centers with security fortresses and spiritual temples. At the head of the city of Cusco is the fortified fortress of Sacsayhuaman, which overlooks the city and was used to detect potential invaders.

While the Spanish were enamored by these cities, they greatly altered, and often destroyed, the precolonial infrastructure. In the case of Cusco, Spanish settlers set to deconstruct most Incan dwellings, sometimes building on top of them, or knocking them down and rebuilding in a Spanish colonial style. Teotihuacán, which was a huge Aztec urban center, was left comparatively untouched and has become a major tourist destination. The same goes for Machu Picchu, which was not rediscovered by Europeans until 1911. Between these examples of Aztec and Incan urban centers we see that indigenous peoples were not only capable of establishing empires and building cities envious of the old world, but that they invented their own ways of being, which included innovative building and irrigation techniques. These ancient ruins defy the conventional, essentialist narrative that indigenous people are only rural dwelling hunter-gatherers waiting for modernity. Instead, it suggests that indigenous groups had many thriving, cosmopolitan societies at the time of contact with Europeans, which would have continued to expand had disease not wiped out a majority of the indigenous population.

At Machu Picchu, 2012

Colonial Cities

Cities from the colonial era sometimes built on top infrastructure originally built by indigenous groups, as is the case in Mexico City. While this influences the layout of some major colonial cities, the actual planning was dictated from the Iberian Peninsula. Whether Spanish or Portuguese, a number of laws and regulations were implemented to ensure a standard quality was used throughout the Americas. These "City Planning Ordinances" included the width of streets, the location of commercial buildings, and the square or rectangular shape of the plaza. Therefore, while the shape and size of the plaza may differ, what is located within the plazas is largely the same. For example, whether you are in Santo Domingo or Lima, you will find the oldest church, government buildings and commercial spaces.

Colonial cities used as ports were required to have their plazas built "at the landing place of the port" unless the settlement was located inland. Inland planning can be seen in the example of Lima. While it was a major port during the colonial period, the plaza was constructed in the center of the settlement far from the coast. These plazas also shared architectural similarities, including porticos used for the convenience of commerce and use of government buildings. Residential areas then grew outward from these central plazas, creating the city centers of many of the Latin America's largest cities.


 

Landscapes and Hazards

Haiti lies between the North American and Caribbean Plates, which makes it subject to frequent and strong earthquakes which have transformed the natural and social environment. The 2010 earthquake largely destroyed the built environment of Haiti's capital, Port-a-Prince, including the Presidential Palace. The location of the palace now houses shipping containers, which is symbolic of the impact the earthquake had on the city and nation. The largest prison, The National Penitentiary, was also destroyed, which allowed for inmates to escape, causing an international panic. Lastly, the Place du Marron, was transformed into a housing area for Haitians who were forced to leave their homes, living in this public space to receive aid. The death toll was catastrophic, and the city's urban landscape was drastically effected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

Physical Landscapes Transect

This embedded map shows a route that a traveler would take from Lima, Peru to Brasilia, Brazil. Along the journey, you would pass varied landscapes that change with the altitude and climate. Starting on the coast of Peru, with its dry and desert-like conditions, you would begin to find a more humid climate as you near the Andes. These tropical conditions allow for crops such as sugarcane, mango and other fruits to grow. Once making headway into the Andes you will notice a stark difference in the climate, as the landscape becomes arid and the temperature begins to drop, especially at night. The roads are dry, bumpy and ruled by the surrounding mountains, which create many twists and turns as you head westward toward Cusco. The nearby ancient ruins of Machu Picchu lies within a subtropical highland climate, creating conditions that allow for more moisture and tropical foliage compared to the arid landscapes passed in route. Once reaching the altiplano, you will notice a flatlining of altitude as you traverse arid savannah, covered in salt mines and lakes. Further west you reach lower altitude, tropical hillsides where coca originates. Once reaching Brazil, you will pass through the savannah grasslands of the Mato Grosso Plateau, known for both its cattle raising and mining operations.