Editing History of South America (section)

== 20th century ==
[[File:SQM GE 289A Boxcab Quillagua - Barriles.jpg|thumb|upright|right|250px|[[GE 289A Boxcab|SQM GE 289A "Boxcabs" 603 and 607]] hauling empty nitrate hoppers from Tocopilla to Barriles, Chile.]]

===1900–1920===

By the start of the century, the United States continued its interventionist attitude, which aimed to directly defend its interests in the region. This was officially articulated in [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s [[Big Stick ideology|Big Stick Doctrine]], which modified the old [[Monroe Doctrine]], which had simply aimed to deter European intervention in the hemisphere.

===1930–1960===

{{See also|Latin America during World War II}}

The [[Great Depression]] posed a challenge to the region. The collapse of the world economy meant that the demand for raw materials drastically declined, undermining many of the economies of South America.[[File: Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes firing a broadside.jpg|right|thumb|240px|The Brazilian [[Minas Geraes-class battleship|''Minas Geraes'' class]] kindled an [[South American dreadnought race|Argentine–Brazilian–Chilean naval arms race]]]] Intellectuals and government leaders in South America turned their backs on the older economic policies and turned toward [[import substitution industrialization]]. The goal was to create self-sufficient economies, which would have their own industrial sectors and large middle classes and which would be immune to the ups and downs of the global economy. Despite the potential threats to United States commercial interests, the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt administration]] (1933–1945) understood that the United States could not wholly oppose import substitution. Roosevelt implemented a [[Good Neighbor policy|good neighbor policy]] and allowed the nationalization of some American companies in South America. The [[World War II|Second World War]] also brought the United States and most Latin American nations together.

The history of South America during World War II is important because of the significant economic, political, and military changes that occurred throughout much of the region as a result of the war. In order to better protect the [[Panama Canal]], combat [[Axis powers|Axis]] influence, and optimize the production of goods for the war effort, the [[United States]] through [[Lend-Lease]] and similar programs greatly expanded its interests in [[Latin America]], resulting in large-scale modernization and a major economic boost for the countries that participated.<ref name="Leonard, pg. 115-119">{{cite book | last=Leonard| first=Thomas M.|author2=John F. Bratzel |title=Latin America during World War II| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield| year=2007| isbn=978-0-7425-3741-5}}</ref>

Strategically, [[Brazil]] was of great importance because of its having the closest point in the [[Americas]] to [[Africa]] where the Allies were actively engaged in fighting the [[Nazi Germany|Germans]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italians]]. For the Axis, the [[Southern Cone]] nations of [[Argentina]] and [[Chile]] were where they found most of their South American support, and they utilised it to the fullest by interfering with internal affairs, conducting [[espionage]], and distributing [[propaganda]].<ref name="Leonard, pg. 115-119"/><ref name="nsa.gov">{{cite web| title=Cryptologic Aspects of German Intelligence Activities in South America during World War II| work=David P. Mowry| url=http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/wwii/cryptologic_aspects_of_gi.pdf| access-date=August 9, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918014218/http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/wwii/cryptologic_aspects_of_gi.pdf| archive-date=2013-09-18}}</ref><ref name="navy.mil">{{cite web|title=German Espionage and Sabotage Against the United States in World War II |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq114-1.htm#anchor639253 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011205033841/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq114-1.htm |archive-date=December 5, 2001 |access-date=August 9, 2013 }}</ref>

Brazil was the only country to send an [[Brazilian Expeditionary Force|Expeditionary force]] to the [[Military history of Italy during World War II|European theatre]]; however, several countries had skirmishes with German U-boats and cruisers in the [[Battle of the Caribbean|Caribbean]] and [[Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I|South Atlantic]]. Mexico sent a [[Squadron (aviation)|fighter squadron]] of 300 volunteers to the Pacific, the ''Escuadrón 201'' were known as the [[201st Fighter Squadron (Mexico)|Aztec Eagles]] (''Aguilas Aztecas'').

The Brazilian active participation on the battle field in Europe was divined after the [[Casablanca Conference]]. The President of the U.S., [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] on his way back from Morocco met the President of Brazil, [[Getúlio Vargas|Getulio Vargas]], in [[Natal, Rio Grande do Norte]], this meeting is known as the [[The Potenji River Conference|Potenji River Conference]], and defined the creation of the [[Brazilian Expeditionary Force]].

===Economics===

According to author Thomas M. Leonard, [[World War II]] had a major impact on Latin American economies. Following the December 7, 1941 [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], most of Latin America either severed relations with the Axis powers or declared war on them. As a result, many nations (including all of [[Central America]], the [[Dominican Republic]], [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], [[Peru]], [[Argentina]], and [[Venezuela]]) suddenly found that they were now dependent on the United States for trade. The United States' high demand for particular products and commodities during the war further distorted trade. For example, the United States wanted all of the platinum produced in [[Colombia]], all the silver of Chile, and all of cotton, gold and copper of Peru. The parties agreed upon set prices, often with a high premium, but the various nations lost their ability to bargain and trade in the open market.

===Cold War===

Wars became less frequent in the 20th century, with [[Chaco War|Bolivia-Paraguay]] and [[Ecuadorian–Peruvian War|Peru-Ecuador]] fighting the last inter-state wars.
Early in the 20th century, the [[ABC nations|three wealthiest South American countries]] engaged in [[South American dreadnought race|a vastly expensive naval arms race]] which was catalyzed by the introduction of a new warship type, the "[[dreadnought]]". At one point, the Argentine government was spending a fifth of its entire yearly budget for just two dreadnoughts, a price that did not include later in-service costs, which for the Brazilian dreadnoughts was sixty percent of the initial purchase.<ref>Richard Hough, ''The Big Battleship'' (London: Michael Joseph, 1966), 19. {{oclc|8898108}}.</ref><ref>Robert Scheina, ''Latin America: A Naval History, 1810–1987'' (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987), 86. {{ISBN|0-87021-295-8}}. {{oclc|15696006}}.</ref>

The continent became a battlefield of the [[Cold War]] in the late 20th century. Some democratically elected governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay were overthrown or displaced by military dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s. To curtail opposition, their governments detained tens of thousands of [[political prisoner]]s, many of whom were tortured and/or killed on [[Operation Condor|inter-state collaboration]]. Economically, they began a transition to [[neoliberal]] economic policies. They placed their own actions within the US Cold War doctrine of "National Security" against internal subversion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peru suffered from [[Internal conflict in Peru|an internal conflict]]. South America, like many other continents, became a battlefield for the [[superpower]]s during the [[Cold War]] in the late 20th century. In the postwar period, the expansion of [[communism]] became the greatest political issue for both the United States and governments in the region. The start of the [[Cold War]] forced governments to choose between the United States and the [[Soviet Union]].

===Late 20th century military regimes and revolutions===

[[File:Presidentes unasur (cropped).jpg|thumb|240px|Presidents of [[UNASUR]] member states at the Second Summit on 23 May 2008.]]
By the 1970s, leftists had acquired a significant political influence which prompted the right-wing, ecclesiastical authorities and a large portion of each individual country's upper class to support coups d'état to avoid what they perceived as a communist threat. This was further fueled by Cuban and United States intervention which led to a political polarisation. Most South American countries were in some periods ruled by [[military dictatorship]]s that were supported by the United States of America.

Also around the 1970s, the regimes of the [[Southern Cone]] collaborated in [[Operation Condor]] killing many [[leftist]] dissidents, including some [[urban guerrilla]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.el-universal.com.mx/editoriales/34023.html |author=[[Víctor Flores Olea]] |title=Editoriales&nbsp;– El Universal&nbsp;– 10 de abril 2006: Operacion Condor |publisher=[[El Universal (Mexico)]] |access-date=2009-03-24 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628021303/http://www.el-universal.com.mx/editoriales/34023.html |archive-date=2007-06-28 }}</ref>
However, by the early 1990s all countries had restored their democracies.

Colombia has had an ongoing, though diminished internal conflict, which started in 1964 with the creation of [[Marxism|Marxist]] [[guerrilla warfare|guerrillas]] ([[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC-EP]]) and then involved several illegal armed groups of leftist-leaning ideology as well as the private armies of powerful drug lords. Many of these are now defunct, and only a small portion of the ELN remains, along with the stronger, though also greatly reduced FARC. These leftist groups smuggle narcotics out of Colombia to fund their operations, while also using kidnapping, bombings, land mines and assassinations as weapons against both elected and non-elected citizens.
[[File:Chavez Kirch Lula141597.jpg|thumb|240px|Presidents [[Hugo Chávez]], [[Néstor Kirchner]], and [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] met on January 19, 2006, in [[Granja do Torto]]]] [[File:Flag of UNASUR.svg|thumb|240px|Flag of the [[Union of South American Nations]]]]
Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships became common after [[World War II]], but since the 1980s, a wave of democratisation came through the continent, and democratic rule is widespread now.<ref>"The Cambridge History of Latin America", edited by Leslie Bethell, Cambridge University Press (1995) {{ISBN|0-521-39525-9}}</ref> Nonetheless, allegations of corruption are still very common, and several countries have developed crises which have forced the resignation of their governments, although, in most occasions, regular civilian succession has continued.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay were overthrown or displaced by U.S.-aligned [[military dictatorship]]s. These detained tens of thousands of [[political prisoner]]s, many of whom were tortured and/or killed (on inter-state collaboration, see [[Operation Condor]]). Economically, they began a transition to [[neoliberal]] economic policies. They placed their own actions within the U.S. [[Cold War]] doctrine of
"National Security" against internal subversion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, [[Peru]] suffered from an [[Internal conflict in Peru|internal conflict]] (see [[Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement]] and [[Shining Path]]). Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships have been common, but starting in the 1980s a wave of democratization came through the continent, and democratic rule is now widespread. Allegations of corruption remain common, and several nations have seen crises which have forced the resignation of their presidents, although normal civilian succession has continued. [[Debt of developing countries|International indebtedness]] became a recurrent problem, with examples like the [[Latin American debt crisis|1980s debt crisis]], the mid-1990s [[Mexican peso crisis]] and [[Argentina]]'s [[1998–2002 Argentine great depression|2001 default]].

===Washington Consensus===

[[File: Unasul 29.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Left-leaning leaders of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile at the [[Union of South American Nations]] summit in 2008]]
{{Main|Washington Consensus}}
The set of specific economic policy prescriptions that were considered the "standard" reform package were promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, DC–based institutions such as the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF), [[World Bank]], and the [[US Treasury Department]] during the 1980s and '90s.