ABSTRACT
In searching for commonalities and differences among the nations that comprise the Latin American and Caribbean regions, a number of historical, social, economic, and political realities stand out. For the Latin American nations, territories largely colonized by the Spanish, but also by the Portuguese (Brazil) and French (Haiti), independence did not materialize until the early decades of the nineteenth century. In contrast, for the great majority of the Caribbean islands, colonized by the Spanish (e.g., Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico), British (e.g., Jamaica, Barbados), French (e.g., Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe), and Dutch (e.g., Aruba, Curaçao), sovereignty did not come until after the second half of the twentieth century. Even after independence, for some of the countries in both regions and, to this day, their decolonization process continues to be hindered by a number of factors: pervasive political instability and authoritarian regimes, their neocolonial dependency on foreigncapital investment and foreign loans to sustain their economies, their subjection to the global policies of international financial regulatory agencies, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), their exposure to the multiple effects that multinational corporations have over their populations’ livelihoods, the widespread poverty, social inequality, and health problems that afflict a large portion of their populations, and the social, racial, and gender marginality endured by a substantial majority of their citizens, especially those of indigenous and black racial origin. Thus the long history of first, European and, subsequently, U.S. domination of these countries’ economies through the presence of powerful transnational corporations, along with numerous U.S. military interventions, are all part the experience of colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialist domination that is so crucial in understanding these regions.
