Answers for Questions for Chapter 4 Latin America in Diversity Amid Globalization

1. In terms of its level of urbanization (percent of population living in cities), where does Latin America rank among the worlds developing (Third World) realms? P. 125 and 127 It is the most urbanized developing realm 75% live in urban areas. 2. During the past 40 years, about what percentage of the Brazilian Amazon has been deforested (most of which has taken place along the Arc of Deforestation)? P. 129 and 130 20% 3. Coffee is the second most valuable commodity exported from Latin America (after oil) and recently environmentalists and nongovernmental groups have promoted coffee certified as Fair Trade. What is Fair Traded coffee? P. 131 coffee is produced by growers who are guaranteed a higher price than they might receive in the open market. This encourages them to produce it on a sustained basis, with an eye toward preserving the environment for future crops. 4. The smog that occurs in the basin in which Mexico City sits is aggravated by a temperature inversion. What is a temperature inversion and why does it intensify Mexico Citys smog problems? P. 132 it is caused by a warm layer of air lying on top of a colder layer of air. Pollution becomes trapped by the upper warm layer because air tends to rise as long as it is warmer than the air that surrounds it. 5. During the 20th Century, Mexico City sank about 30 feet, causing massive problems for buildings located here. What has been the primary cause of this sinking? P. 133 pumping water from the aquifer of the old lake bed has caused subsidence in Mexico City 6. Why is the city of Curitiba known as the green city of Brazil? P. 133 the city government of Curitiba has emphasized environmental conservation in its planning decisions to create a sustainable environment. It is a very progressive city. 7. What has caused the Andes mountains to be the highest in South America? P. Subduction or colliding continental plates in association with plate tectonics. -1-

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What are Altiplanos of South America? P. 134 elevated planes located at high elevations in the Andes Mountains

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There are 3 major shields located in South America. What are shields and where are the 3 located in South America? P. 135 these are areas of large exposed (by erosion) crystalline rocks that used to contain much higher mountains often shields contain valuable metallic mineral resources. The 3 shields in South America are: (1) the Guiana Highlands, (2) the Brazilian Highlands, and (3) the Patagonian Plateau.

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What are the 3 major river basins located in South America? P. 136-137 (1) Amazon Basin, (2) Plata Basin, and (3) Orinoco Basin.

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Why is the Itaip Dam important for Paraguay and southern Brazil? P. 137 it is located on the Paran River and supplies all the electricity for Paraguay and most of southern Brazil

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What is the concept of Altitudinal Zonation in Latin America? P. 139 This refers to the way climates change with altitudinal changes, similar to changes in latitudinal positions.

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What is the El Nio weather phenomenon in South America? P. 139 wetter than normal period in deserts caused by warm water riding over cold water off the coast of Peru

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The retreat Andean glaciers and increase of incidences of dengue fever the during the past 50 years are both indicative of what climatic phenomenon? P. 140 global warming

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You should know the characteristics of the Latin American City Model on page 143. A. B. C. What is the CBD? -- Central Business District What is the Zone of Maturity? former high class residential area that has aged and is now occupied mainly by middle class persons What is the Zone of In Situ Accretion? started out as a squatter settlement, but changed into more substantial housing for the lower class and lower middle class -2-

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What are Squatter Settlements? where people occupy land that they do not have title to they occupy it illegally. What is the Zone of Gentrification? middle class persons moving back to the inner city and in so doing they raise the property values and improve the quality of life in these neighborhoods What is the Spine? an outward extension of retail businesses from the CBD What is a Disamenity? an unattractive quality

What is the informal sector of an economy? P. 143-144 the sector of the economy occupied by poor people where they have jobs that do not pay taxes and are not under government control.

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What does the word latifundia mean? P. 144 Large land holdings awarded under the Spanish land grant system to the soldierconquerors and to favorites of the Spanish Crown. This created a class system in Latin America that contained poor peasant farmers and an elite class of large land-owing families.

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What is shifting cultivation? P. 144 Land is occupied for 2 or 3 years and then abandoned for new land. Thus the agricultural plots are shifted from one place to another.

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What is the concept of agrarian reform in Latin America? P. 144 and 145 taking land from the rich and giving it to the poor to create a more equitable system of land ownership.

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You should know that the 1960s and 1970s were the two decades of the highest of population growth in Latin Americas history. This unprecedented growth was due to two factors. What were these two factors? P. 146 (1) high fertility and (2) falling mortality (increased life expectancy)

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Spain and Portugal have become increasingly popular as destinations for emigrants from Latin America. What are some of the reasons for this? P. 147 Both legal and illegal immigration to the U.S. became more costly and difficult after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on 9-11-2001. Also, many people from Latin America spoke the same language as people living in Spain and Portugal and they understood the culture of these two countries. Now about the same percentage of Spains -3-

population is foreign born as in the United States (11.1 % vs. 12.5%). 22. Today, the greatest number of immigrants to the United States come from what country? P. 149 Mexico 23. What are remittances and why are they important in Latin America? P. 149 this is money sent by immigrants to their home countries 24. What is the concept of immigrant transnationalism? P. 149 this refers to the way immigrants maintain ties to their home countries through remittances, visits, telephone calls, the Internet, business imports and exports, etc. 25. What was the demographic collapse that characterized Latin America after the arrival of Columbus in 1492? P. 150 90% of the Pre-Colombian Indian population was killed by diseases and the conquest. 26. At the time that Columbus arrived in Latin America, how did the size of the American Indian population in the Americas compare to that of Western Europe? P. 150 The Americas may have had as many as 54 million American Indians at the time of the arrival of Colombus. Maybe 47 million of these lived in Latin America, with about 7 million in the Caribbean (1-5 million) and North America (2-4 million). There were about 42 million living in Europe at the same time(in 1500 AD). 27. What was the so-called Columbian Exchange that took place in the Americas and the Eastern Hemisphere? P. 151 the exchange of people, diseases, plants, and animals between the Old World and the New World 28. What are Telenovelas? P. 155 These are nightly television soap operas that are a mainstay on Latin American television and in the U.S. among Latin American immigrants. 29. What is NAFTA and what is the controversy surrounding it?

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P. 161 A trade agreement signed in 1994 by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico that was designed to make trade more easy between these three countries. It is controversial because it has produced both winners and losers. 30. What is FARC in Colombia and what has been its impact? P. 162 The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is a terrorist organization in Colombia that has the goal of overthrowing the Colombian government. They are involved in the drug trade and kidnapping to get money to support their cause. It is a Marxist guerilla organization. 31. In Latin America, what are the paramilitary groups? P. 163 These are groups hired by right-wing people and organizations in Colombia that want to rid Colombia of insurgency sympathizers, especially the FARC. 32. Which country in Latin America is most associated with the production of cocaine. P. 163 Colombia 33. What was the cause of the Zapatista rebellion in southern Mexico during the 1990s and 2000s? P. 164 Globalization and NAFTA the reduction of tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have forced corn-growers in Mexico to compete with corn farmers in the U.S. who have technology and mechanization on their side as an advantage that the poor Mexican farmers in Chiapas state cannot compete with. The lower prices of American corn imports have badly hurt the profits of the peasant farmers of this Mexican state. 34. What is the so-called Washington Consensus economic policy (also called neoliberalism) that is being practiced by many governments in Latin America? P. 165 This is a policy promoted by Washington, D.C. (And international lending agencies like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) and adopted by local governments to free up trade restrictions to encourage the LDCs to search for their niche in the global economy by producing what they have a comparative advantage to produce. It also promotes fiscal responsibility on the part of the LDCs by forcing their governments to reduce their costs and spending. So, it is based on the principals of (1) increased trade, (2) privatization, (3) foreign investments, and (4) reduced government spending. 35. What are the maquiladoras of Mexico?

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P. 166 these are factories in Mexico that have been created by agreements between the U.S. and the Mexican government. U.S. corporations provide the capital and most of the resources and Mexico provides inexpensive labor. Originally, these factories were developed in the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border (under the Border Industrialization Program in the 1960s), but now they have spread to other parts of Mexico. 36. What does the phrase primary export dependency mean in Latin America and why is it cause for concern? P. 169 This is where many LDCs have become mainly dependent upon the export of one or two raw-material products (e.g. coffee, sugar, pineapples, oil, etc.). This is similar to putting all their economic eggs in one basket in the sense that they are dependent upon small price shifts for the product produced. Also, the prices paid for raw materials is typically less than those paid for manufactured products, thus creating unfavorable terms of trade for the LDCs. 37. What are flex-fuel cars and what is ethanol? Why do you think Brazil has been one of the leaders in the move to develop the use of ethanol and flex fuel cars? P. 171 these are cars that can run on any combination of ethanol and gasoline. Brazil has been at the forefront of the development of ethanol because the country does not produce much oil and they needed an alternative source of energy. Also, it has a tropical climate that is optimum for growing sugar cane which can be made efficiently into ethanol. 38. What is dependency theory and how has it been used in Latin America? P. 170 and 171 This is the idea that capitalism in the MDCs created underdevelopment in the LDCs. The LDCs, even though they gained their political independence, became economically dependent on the MDCs for imports, exports, technology, and capital. It blames outside foreign sources for the economic problems in the LDCs. It argues for local government intervention to protect local production. 39. What is dollarization and what three countries in Latin America have fully dollarized their economies? P. 171 This is a policy in which a foreign government adopts the U.S. dollar as its currency, instead of using its own currency. Panama, El Salvador, and Ecuador have done this in Latin America. 40. What are some of the advantages of dollarizing a countrys economy in Latin America?

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This is done with the goal of reducing inflation and reducing devaluation of its currency 41. Why were the 1980s called the lost decade for Latin America? P. 173 a lot of the Latin American countries had borrowed heavily from foreign banks and the World Bank and IMF during the later 1970s and early 1980s. As the interest rates on these loans inflated, a debt crisis ensued during the 1980s. This produced very slow or negative economic growth in most of the Latin American countries during the 1980s.

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