ABSTRACT
Historian E. Bradford Burns’s 1980 book, The Poverty of Progress, suggests that “progress” actually led to growing “poverty” in Latin America. Nineteenth century Latin American political leaders, impressed with European political and economic ideology, embraced policies that upheld colonial patterns—that is, Latin Americans exported “raw” goods and imported “finished industrial” goods from Europe. Mexico achieved phenomenal growth during a period known as the Porfiriato, the 35-year rule of Porfirio Diaz. Diaz’s rule, from about 1876 to 1911, represented the height of export-led growth in that country. Exports from 1877 to 1900 increased by 400 percent, but the newfound expansion in export trade did not mean that all Mexicans enjoyed a higher standard of living. Export-led economic growth in Latin America created tensions and contradictions in the region and exacerbated established patterns of inequality. A small percentage of the population came to control vast fortunes, while the majority of the citizens saw relatively little personal benefit from the export-led model.
