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[[File:America noviter delineata.jpg|thumb|A 17th-century map of the Americas]]
The term ''[[Latin America]]'' originated in the 1830s, primarily through [[Michel Chevalier]], who proposed the region could ally with "Latin Europe" against other European cultures. It primarily refers to the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the [[New World]].

Before the [[European colonization of the Americas|arrival of Europeans]] in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the region was home to many indigenous peoples, including advanced civilizations, most notably from  South: the [[Olmec]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Muisca people|Muisca]], [[Aztecs]] and [[Inca civilization|Inca]]. The region came under control of the kingdoms of [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]], which established colonies, and imposed [[Roman Catholicism]] and their languages. Both brought African [[slave]]s to their colonies as laborers, exploiting large, settled societies and their resources. The Spanish Crown regulated immigration, allowing only Christians to travel to the New World. The colonization process led to significant native population declines due to disease, forced labor, and violence. They imposed their culture, destroying native codices and artwork. Colonial-era religion played a crucial role in everyday life, with the Spanish Crown ensuring religious purity and aggressively prosecuting perceived deviations like witchcraft.

In the early nineteenth century nearly all of areas of [[Spanish America]] attained independence by armed struggle, with the exceptions of [[Cuba]] and [[Puerto Rico]]. [[Brazil]], which had become a monarchy separate from Portugal, became a republic in the late nineteenth century. Political independence from European monarchies did not result in the abolition of black slavery in the new nations, it resulted in political and economic instability in Spanish America, immediately after independence. Great Britain and the United States exercised significant influence in the post-independence era, resulting in a form of [[neo-colonialism]], where political sovereignty remained in place, but foreign powers exercised considerable power in the economic sphere. Newly independent nations faced domestic and interstate conflicts, struggling with economic instability and social inequality.

The 20th century brought U.S. intervention and the [[Cold War]]'s impact on the region, with revolutions in countries like Cuba influencing Latin American politics. The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw shifts towards left-wing governments, followed by conservative resurgences, and a recent resurgence of left-wing politics in several countries.

==Origin of the term and definition==
{{See also|Latin America#Etymology and definitions|l1=Latin America: Definition}}

The idea that a part of the Americas has a cultural or [[Social interpretations of race|racial]] affinity with all Romance cultures can be traced back to the 1830s, in particular in the writing of the French [[Saint-Simonianism|Saint-Simonian]] [[Michel Chevalier]], who postulated that this part of the Americas were inhabited by people of a "[[Italic peoples|Latin race]]," and that it could, therefore, ally itself with "[[Romance-speaking Europe|Latin Europe]]" in a struggle with "[[Germanic languages|Teutonic Europe]]," "[[Anglo America|Anglo-Saxon America]]" and "[[Slav]]ic Europe."<ref name = "mignolo">{{cite book | last = Mignolo | first = Walter | title = The Idea of Latin America | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vPacXtsWhewC | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | place = Oxford | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-4051-0086-1 |pages = 77–80}}</ref> The idea was later taken up by Latin American intellectuals and political leaders of the mid- and late-nineteenth century, who no longer looked to Spain or Portugal as cultural models, but rather to France.<ref>McGuiness, Aims (2003). "Searching for 'Latin America': Race and Sovereignty in the Americas in the 1850s" in Appelbaum, Nancy P. et al. (eds.). ''Race and Nation in Modern Latin America''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 87-107. {{ISBN|0-8078-5441-7}}</ref> The actual term "Latin America" was coined in France under [[Napoleon III]] and played a role in his campaign to imply cultural kinship with France, transform France into a cultural and political leader of the area and install [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Maximilian]] as emperor of Mexico.<ref>{{cite book | last = Chasteen | first = John Charles | author-link = John Charles Chasteen | title = Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America | publisher = W. W. Norton | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-393-97613-0 | page = [https://archive.org/details/borninbloodfirec00chas_0/page/156 156] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/borninbloodfirec00chas_0 }}</ref>

In the mid-twentieth century, especially in the United States, there was a trend to occasionally classify all of the territory south of the United States as "Latin America," especially when the discussion focused on its contemporary political and economic relations to the rest of the world, rather than solely on its cultural aspects.<ref>{{cite book | last = Butland | first = Gilbert J. | title = Latin America: A Regional Geography | publisher = John Wiley and Sons | year = 1960 | location = New York | pages = 115–188 | isbn = 0-470-12658-2 }} {{cite book | last = Dozer | first = Donald Marquand | title = Latin America: An Interpretive History | url = https://archive.org/details/latinamericainte00doze | url-access = registration | publisher = McGraw-Hill | year = 1962 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/latinamericainte00doze/page/1 1–15] }} {{cite book | last = Szulc | first = Tad | author-link = Tad Szulc | title = Latin America | publisher = New York Times Company | year = 1965 | pages = 13–17}} {{cite book | last = Olien | first = Michael D. | title = Latin Americans: Contemporary Peoples and Their Cultural Traditions | publisher = Holt, Rinehart and Winston | year = 1973 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/latinamericansco0000olie/page/1 1–5] | isbn = 0-03-086251-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/latinamericansco0000olie/page/1 }} {{cite book | editor-last = Black | editor-first = Jan Knippers  | title = Latin America: Its Problems and Its Promise: A Multidisciplinary Introduction | publisher = Westview Press | year = 1984| location = Boulder | pages = 362–378 | isbn = 0-86531-213-3}} {{cite book | last = Bruns | first = E. Bradford | title = Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History | publisher = Prentice-Hall | year = 1986 | edition = 4 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/latinamericaconc00burn/page/224 224–227] | isbn = 0-13-524356-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/latinamericaconc00burn/page/224 }} {{cite book | last = Skidmore | first = Thomas E. |author2=Peter H. Smith | title = Modern Latin America | url = https://archive.org/details/modernlatinameri0006skid | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2005 | edition = 6 | location = Oxford and New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/modernlatinameri0006skid/page/351 351–355] | isbn = 0-19-517013-X }}</ref> Concurrently, there has been a move to avoid this oversimplification by talking about "[[United Nations geoscheme for the Americas|Latin America and the Caribbean]]," as in the United Nations geoscheme.

Since, the concept and definitions of Latin American are very modern, going back only to the nineteenth century, it is anachronistic to talk about "a history of Latin America" before the arrival of the Europeans. Nevertheless, the many and varied cultures that did exist in the [[pre-Columbian]] period had a strong and direct influence on the societies that emerged as a result of the conquest, and therefore, they cannot be overlooked. They are introduced in the next section.

==The Pre-Columbian period==
{{Main|Pre-Columbian era}}
What is now Latin America has been populated for millennia, possibly as long as 30,000 years. There are many models of the [[peopling of the Americas]]. Precise dating of early civilizations is difficult because there are few text sources. However, highly developed civilizations flourished at various places, such as in the [[Andes]] and [[Mesoamerica]].

The earliest known human settlement in the area was identified at [[Monte Verde]] in southern Chile. Its occupation dates to some 14,000 years ago and there is disputed evidence of even earlier occupation. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the North and South America and the Caribbean islands. Although the region now known as Latin America stretches from northern Mexico to [[Tierra del Fuego]], the diversity of its geography, topography, climate, and cultivable land means that populations were not evenly distributed. Sedentary populations of fixed settlements supported by agriculture gave rise to complex civilizations in [[Mesoamerica]] (central and southern Mexico and Central America) and the highland Andes populations of [[Quechua people|Quechua]] and [[Aymara people|Aymara]], as well as [[Chibcha]].

Agricultural surpluses from intensive cultivation of [[maize]] in Mesoamerica and [[potato]]es and hardy grains in the Andes were able to support distant populations beyond farmers' households and communities. Surpluses allowed the creation of social, political, religious, and military hierarchies, urbanization with stable village settlements and major cities, specialization of craft work, and the transfer of products via tribute and trade. In the Andes, [[llamas]] were domesticated and used to transport goods; Mesoamerica had no large domesticated animals to aid human labor or provide meat. Mesoamerican civilizations developed systems of writing; in the Andes, knotted [[quipu]]s emerged as a system of accounting.

The Caribbean region had sedentary populations settled by [[Arawak]] or [[Tainos]] and in what is now Brazil, many [[Tupian]] peoples lived in fixed settlements. Semi-sedentary populations had agriculture and settled villages, but [[Land degradation|soil exhaustion]] required relocation of settlements. Populations were less dense and social and political hierarchies less institutionalized. Non-sedentary peoples lived in small bands, with low population density and without agriculture. They lived in harsh environments. By the first millennium [[Common Era|CE]], the Western Hemisphere was the home of tens of millions of people; the exact numbers are a source of ongoing research and controversy.<ref>Lockhart, James and Stuart B. Schwartz, ''Early Latin America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1982, 31–60</ref>

The last two great [[civilization]]s, the [[Aztecs]] and [[Incas]], emerged into prominence in the early fourteenth century and mid-fifteenth centuries. Although the Indigenous empires were conquered by Europeans, the sub-imperial organization of the densely populated regions remained in place. The presence or absence of Indigenous populations had an impact on how European imperialism played out in the Americas. The pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica and the highland Andes became sources of pride for American-born Spaniards in the late colonial era and for nationalists in the post-independence era.<ref>Brading, D.A., ''The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492–1867''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991</ref> For some modern Latin American nation-states, the Indigenous roots of national identity are expressed in the ideology of ''[[indigenismo]]''. These modern constructions of national identity usually critique their colonial past.<ref>MacLeod, Murdo J. "Indigenismo" in ''[[Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture]]'', vol. 3, pp. 267–269. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.</ref>

==Colonial Era==
{{Main|Spanish colonization of the Americas|Portuguese colonization of the Americas}}
{{See also|Spanish empire|Historiography of Colonial Spanish America}}
[[Christopher Columbus]] landed in the Americas in 1492. Subsequently, the major sea powers in Europe sent expeditions to the [[New World]] to build trade networks and colonies and to convert the native peoples to [[Christianity]]. Spain concentrated on building its empire on the central and southern parts of the Americas allotted to it by the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]], because of presence of large, settled societies like the [[Aztec]], the [[Inca civilization|Inca]], the [[Maya peoples|Maya]] and the [[Muisca people|Muisca]], whose human and material resources it could exploit, and large concentrations of [[silver]] and [[gold]]. The Portuguese built their empire in [[Brazil]], which fell in their sphere of influence owing to the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]], by developing the land for [[sugar]] production since there was a lack of a large, complex society or mineral resources.

During the European colonization of the western hemisphere, most of the native population died, mainly by disease. In what has come to be known as the [[Columbian exchange]], diseases such as [[smallpox]] and [[measles]] decimated populations with no immunity. The size of the indigenous populations has been studied in the modern era by historians,<ref>Sherburne F. Cook and Woodrow Borah, ''Essays in Population History'' 3 vols. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1971-1979.</ref><ref>David P. Henige, ''Numbers from Nowhere: the American Indian Contact Population Debate'', Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1998.</ref><ref>[[Noble David Cook]], ''Born to Die: Disease and New World Conquest, 1492-1650''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1998.</ref> but Dominican friar [[Bartolomé de las Casas]] raised the alarm in the earliest days of Spanish settlement in the Caribbean in his ''[[A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies]]''.

The conquerors and colonists of Latin America also had a major impact on the population of Latin America. The Spanish conquistadors committed savage acts of violence against the natives. According to [[Bartolomé de las Casas]], the Europeans worked the native population to death, separated the men and the women so they could not reproduce, and hunted down and killed any natives who escaped with dogs. Las Casas claimed that the Spaniards made the natives work day and night in mines and would "test the sharpness of their blades"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zinn |first1=Howard |title=A People's History of the United States |date=2015 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |page=6}}</ref> on the natives. Las Casas estimated that around three million natives died from war, slavery, and overworking. When talking about the cruelty, Las Casas said "Who in future generations will believe this? I myself writing it as a knowledgeable eyewitness can hardly believe it."

Because the Spanish were now in power, native culture and religion were forbidden. The Spanish even went as far as burning the Maya Codices (like books). These codices contained information about astrology, religion, Gods, and rituals. There are four codices known to exist today; these are the Dresden Codex, Paris Codex, Madrid Codex, and HI Codex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Maya/p/Maya-Books.htm|title=The Maya Codices|publisher=about.com|access-date=2015-05-13|archive-date=2012-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118234258/http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Maya/p/Maya-Books.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Spanish also melted down countless pieces of golden artwork so they could bring the gold back to Spain and destroyed countless pieces of art.

=== Colonial-era religion ===
; Traveling to the New World
The Spanish Crown regulated immigration to its overseas colonies, with travelers required to register with the [[Casa de Contratación|House of Trade]] in Seville. Since the crown wished to exclude anyone who was non-Christian (Jews, [[crypto-Jews]], and Muslims) passing as Christian, travelers' backgrounds were vetted. The ability to regulate the flow of people enabled the Spanish Crown to keep a grip on the religious purity of its overseas empire. The Spanish Crown was rigorous in their attempt to allow only Christians passage to the New World and required proof of religion by way of personal testimonies. Specific examples of individuals dealing with the Crown allow for an understanding of how religion affected passage into the New World.

Francisca de Figueroa, an African-Iberian woman seeking entrance into the Americas, petitioned the Spanish Crown in 1600 in order to gain a license to sail to Cartagena.<ref>McKnight, ''Afro-Latino Voices'' p 52.</ref> On her behalf she had a witness attest to her religious purity, Elvira de Medina wrote, "this witness knows that she and parents and her grandparents have been and are Old Christians and of unsullied cast and lineage. They are not of Moorish or Jewish caste or of those recently converted to Our Holy Catholic Faith."<ref>McKnight, ''Afro-Latino Voices'' p.&nbsp;61.</ref> Despite Francisca's race, she was allowed entrance into the Americas in 1601 when a 'Decree from His Majesty' was presented, it read, "My presidents and official judges of the Case de Contraction of Seville. I order you to allow passage to the Province of Cartagena for Francisca de Figueroa ..."<ref>McKnight, ''Afro-Latino Voices'' p.&nbsp;64.</ref> This example points to the importance of religion, when attempting to travel to the Americas during colonial times. Individuals had to work within the guidelines of Christianity in order to appeal to the Crown and be granted access to travel.

; Religion in Latin America
Once in the [[New World]], religion was still a prevalent issue which had to be considered in everyday life. Many of the laws were based on religious beliefs and traditions and often these laws clashed with the many other cultures throughout colonial Latin America. One of the central clashes was between African and Iberian cultures; this difference in culture resulted in the aggressive prosecution of witches, both African and Iberian, throughout Latin America. According to European tradition "[a] witch&nbsp;– a bruja&nbsp;– was thought to reject God and the sacraments and instead worship the devil and observe the [[witches' Sabbath]]."<ref>McKnight, ''Afro-Latino Voices'' p.&nbsp;176.</ref>

==Nineteenth-century revolutions: the postcolonial era==
{{See also|Spanish American wars of independence|Brazilian War of Independence}}
[[File:Latin American independence countries.PNG|thumb|220px|Countries in Latin America by date of independence]]
Following the model of the [[American Revolution|American]] and [[French Revolution|French]] revolutions, most of Latin America achieved its independence by 1825. [[Colombia]] was one of the first [[South America|South American]] country to gain independence from [[Spain]] on 20 July 1810 and the third oldest independent nation after [[Haiti]] and the [[United States]]. Independence destroyed the old [[single market|common market]] that existed under the Spanish Empire after the [[Bourbon Reforms]] and created an increased dependence on the financial investment provided by nations, which had already begun to [[Industrial Revolution|industrialize]]; therefore, Western European powers, in particular Great Britain and France, and the United States began to play major roles, since the region became economically dependent on these nations. Independence also created a new, self-consciously "Latin American" ruling class and intelligentsia, which at times avoided Spanish and Portuguese models in their quest to reshape their societies. This [[elite]] looked towards other [[Catholic]] European models—in particular France—for a new [[Latin American culture]], but did not seek input from indigenous peoples.

The failed efforts in [[Hispanic America|Spanish America]] to keep together most of the initial large states that emerged from independence— [[Gran Colombia]], the [[Federal Republic of Central America]]<ref name="FRCA_details">{{cite web|year = 2007|url = http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/historyofcentralamerica/a/09republicofCA.htm|title = The Federal Republic of Central America (1823-1840)|publisher = [[About.com]]|accessdate = 2009-05-01|last = Christopher Minster|quote = |archive-date = 2009-04-23|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090423133633/http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/historyofcentralamerica/a/09republicofCA.htm|url-status = dead}}</ref> and the [[United Provinces of South America]]—resulted a number of domestic and interstate conflicts, which plagued the new countries. Brazil, in contrast to its Hispanic neighbors, remained a united monarchy and avoided the problem of civil and interstate wars. Domestic wars were often fights between [[federalists]] and centrists, who ended up asserting themselves through the military repression of their opponents at the expense of civilian political life. The new nations inherited the cultural diversity of the colonial era and strived to create a new identity based around the shared European (Spanish or Portuguese) language and culture. Within each country, however, there were cultural and class divisions that created tension and hurt national unity.

For the next few decades there was a long process to create a sense of [[Nationalism|nationality]]. Most of the new national borders were created around the often centuries-old [[Audiencia Real|audiencia]] jurisdictions or the Bourbon [[Intendant|intendancies]], which had become areas of political identity. In many areas the borders were unstable, since the new states fought wars with each other to gain access to resources, especially in the second half of the nineteenth century. The more important conflicts were the [[Paraguayan War]] (1864–70; also known as the War of the Triple Alliance) and the [[War of the Pacific]] (1879–84). The Paraguayan War pitted Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay against Paraguay, which was utterly defeated. As a result, Paraguay suffered a [[demographic collapse]]: the population went from an estimated 525,000 persons in 1864 to 221,000 in 1871 and out of this last population, only around 28,000 were men.  In the War of the Pacific, Chile defeated the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru. Chile gained control of [[Sodium nitrate|saltpeter]]-rich areas, previously controlled by Peru and Bolivia, and Bolivia became a land-locked nation. By mid-century the region also confronted a growing United States, seeking to expand on the North American continent and extend its influence in the hemisphere. In [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–48), Mexico lost over half of its territory to the United States. In the 1860s France attempted to [[Second French intervention in Mexico|indirectly control Mexico]]. In South America, Brazil consolidated its control of large swaths of the [[Amazon Basin]] at the expense of its neighbors. In the 1880s the United States implemented an aggressive policy to defend and expand its political and economic interests in all of Latin America, which culminated in the creation of the [[Pan-American Conference]], the [[History of the Panama Canal|successful completion of the Panama Canal]] and the [[Spanish–American War|United States intervention in the final Cuban war of independence]].

The [[Primary sector of the economy|export of natural resources]] provided the basis of most Latin American economies in the nineteenth century, which allowed for the development of wealthy elite. The restructuring of colonial economic and political realities resulted in a sizable gap between rich and poor, with landed elites controlling the vast majority of land and resources. In [[Brazil]], for instance, by 1910 85% of the land belonged to 1% of the population. Gold mining and fruit growing, in particular, were monopolized by these wealthy landowners. These "Great Owners" completely controlled local activity and, furthermore, were the principal employers and the main source of wages. This led to a society of [[peasant]]s whose connection to larger political realities remained in thrall to farming and mining magnates.

The [[endemic]] political instability and the nature of the economy resulted in the emergence of [[caudillos]], military chiefs whose hold on power depended on their military skill and ability to dispense [[patronage]]. The political regimes were at least in theory [[Democracy|democratic]] and took the form of either [[Presidential system|presidential]] or [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] governments. Both were prone to being taken over by a caudillo or an [[oligarchy]]. The political landscape was occupied by [[Conservatism|conservatives]], who believed that the preservation of the old social hierarchies served as the best guarantee of national stability and prosperity, and [[Liberalism|liberals]], who sought to bring about progress by freeing up the economy and individual initiative. Popular [[insurrections]] were often influential and repressed: 100,000 were killed during the suppression of a Colombian revolt between 1899 and 1902 during the [[Thousand Days' War]]. Some states did manage to have some of democracy: [[Uruguay]], and partially [[Argentina]], [[Chile]], [[Costa Rica]] and [[Colombia]]. The others were clearly oligarchist or [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]], although these oligarchs and caudillos sometimes enjoyed support from a majority in the population. All of these regimes sought to maintain Latin America's lucrative position in the world economy as a provider of raw materials.

==20th century==
===1900–1929===
[[File:Go Away Little Man Charles Green Bush.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|1903 political cartoon: President Roosevelt intimidating [[Colombia]] to acquire the [[Panama Canal Zone]].]]
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. At the conclusion of the [[Spanish–American War]] the new government of Cuba and the United States signed the [[Platt Amendment]] in 1902, which authorized the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs when the United States deemed necessary. In [[Colombia]], United States sought the [[Concession (territory)|concession]] of a [[Panama Canal Zone|territory in Panama]] to build a much anticipated canal across the isthmus. The Colombian government opposed this, but a Panamanian insurrection provided the United States with an opportunity. The United States backed Panamanian independence and the new nation granted the concession. These were not the only interventions carried out in the region by the United States. In the first decades of the twentieth century, there were several military incursions into Central America and the Caribbean, mostly in defense of commercial interests, which became known as the "[[Banana Wars]]."

The greatest political upheaval in the second decade of the century took place in Mexico. In 1908, President [[Porfirio Díaz]], who had been in office since 1884, promised that he would step down in 1910. [[Francisco I. Madero]], a moderate liberal whose aim was to modernize the country while preventing a [[Socialism#Revolutions of 1917–1923|socialist revolution]], launched an election campaign in 1910. Díaz, however, changed his mind and ran for office once more. Madero was arrested on election day and Díaz declared the winner. These events provoked uprisings, which became the start of the [[Mexican Revolution]]. Revolutionary movements were organized and some key leaders appeared: [[Pancho Villa]] in the north, [[Emiliano Zapata]] in the south, and Madero in Mexico City. Madero's forces defeated the federal army in early 1911, assumed temporary control of the government and won a second election later on November 6, 1911. Madero undertook moderate reforms to implement greater democracy in the political system but failed to satisfy many of the regional leaders in what had become a revolutionary situation. Madero's failure to address [[agrarianism|agrarian]] claims led Zapata to break with Madero and resume the revolution. On February 18, 1913 [[Victoriano Huerta]], a conservative general organized  a [[coup d'état]] with the support of the United States; Madero was killed four days later. Other revolutionary leaders such as Villa, Zapata, and [[Venustiano Carranza]] continued to militarily oppose the federal government, now under Huerta's control. Allies Zapata and Villa took Mexico City in March 1914, but found themselves outside of their elements in the capital and withdrew to their respective bastions. This allowed Carranza to assume control of the central government. He then organized the repression of the rebel armies of Villa and Zapata, led in particular by General [[Álvaro Obregón]]. The [[Constitution of Mexico|Mexican Constitution of 1917]], still the current constitution, was proclaimed but initially little enforced. The efforts against the other revolutionary leaders continued. Zapata was assassinated on April 10, 1919. Carranza himself was assassinated on May 15, 1920, leaving Obregón in power, who was officially elected president later that year. Finally in 1923 Villa was also assassinated. With the removal of the main rivals Obregón is able to consolidate power and relative peace returned to Mexico. Under the Constitution a liberal government is implemented but some of the aspirations of the working and rural classes remained unfulfilled. (See also, [[Agrarian land reform in Mexico]].)

The prestige of Germany and German culture  in Latin America remained high after the war but did not recover to its pre-war levels.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sanhueza |first1=Carlos |language=Spanish |year=2011 |chapter=El debate sobre "el embrujamiento alemán" y el papel de la ciencia alemana hacia fines del siglo XIX en Chile  |chapter-url=http://publications.iai.spk-berlin.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/Document_derivate_00000510/BIA%20146%20Sanhueza.pdf |title=Ideas viajeras y sus objetos. El intercambio científico entre Alemania y América austral. Madrid–Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana–Vervuert |pages=29–40 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Penny |first1=H. Glenn |date=2017 |title=Material Connections: German Schools, Things, and Soft Power in Argentina and Chile from the 1880s through the Interwar Period |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/comparative-studies-in-society-and-history/article/material-connections-german-schools-things-and-soft-power-in-argentina-and-chile-from-the-1880s-through-the-interwar-period/0FA72CBBF44C2C944477364ED259E153 |journal=[[Comparative Studies in Society and History]] |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=519–549 |doi=10.1017/S0010417517000159 |s2cid=149372568 |access-date=December 13, 2018|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Indeed, in Chile the war bought an end to a period of scientific and cultural influence writer [[Eduardo de la Barra (writer)|Eduardo de la Barra]] scorningly called "the German bewichment" ({{langx|es|el embrujamiento alemán}}).<ref name=Carlos2011>{{cite book |last1=Sanhueza |first1=Carlos |language=Spanish |date=2011 |chapter=El debate sobre "el embrujamiento alemán" y el papel de la ciencia alemana hacia fines del siglo XIX en Chile  |chapter-url=http://publications.iai.spk-berlin.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/Document_derivate_00000510/BIA%20146%20Sanhueza.pdf |title=Ideas viajeras y sus objetos. El intercambio científico entre Alemania y América austral. Madrid–Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana–Vervuert |pages=29–40 |doi= |access-date= }}</ref>

===1930–1945===
{{See also|Latin America during World War II}}
 
The [[Great Depression]] posed a great 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 Latin America. Intellectuals and government leaders in Latin 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]] and allowed the nationalization of some American companies in Latin America. Mexican President [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] nationalized American [[Petroleum industry|oil companies]], out of which he created [[Pemex]]. Cárdenas also oversaw the redistribution of a quantity of land, fulfilling the hopes of many since the start of the Mexican Revolution. The Platt Amendment was also repealed, freeing Cuba from legal and official interference of the United States in its politics. The [[World War II|Second World War]] also brought the United States and most Latin American nations together.<ref>Victor Bulmer-Thomas, ''The Economic History of Latin America since Independence'' (2nd ed. 2003) pp 189-231.</ref>

===Cold War era (1945–1992)===
[[File:Sesel map of socialist states (cropped).PNG|200px|thumb|Map of Countries in Latin America with Socialist regimes during the Cold War {{Circa|1985}}]]
Many Latin American economies continued to grow in the post-World War II era, but not as quickly as they had hoped. When the transatlantic trade re-opened following the peace, Europe looked as if it would need Latin American food exports and raw materials. The policies of [[import substitution industrialization]] adopted in Latin America when exports slowed due to the Great Depression and subsequent isolation in World War II were now subject to international competition. Those who supported a return to the export of commodities for which Latin America had a [[competitive advantage]] disagreed with advocates of an expanded industrial sector. The rebuilding of Europe, including Germany, with the aid of the U.S. after World War II did not bring stronger demand for Latin American exports. In Latin America, much of the hard currency earned by their participation in the war went to nationalize foreign-owned industries and pay down their debt. A number of governments set [[tariff]] and [[exchange rate]] policies that undermined the export sector and aided the urban working classes. Growth slowed in the post-war period and by the mid-1950s, the optimism of the postwar period was replaced by pessimism.<ref>Halperín Donghi, Tulio. ''The History of Contemporary Latin America'', 249-51.</ref>

Following World War II, the United States policy toward Latin America focused on what it perceived as the [[Cold War|threat]] of [[communism]] and the [[Soviet Union]] to the interests of Western Europe and the United States. Although Latin American countries had been staunch allies in the war and reaped some benefits from it, in the post-war period the region did not prosper as it had expected. Latin America struggled in the post-war period without large-scale aid from the U.S., which devoted its resources to rebuilding Western Europe, including Germany. In Latin America there was increasing inequality, with political consequences in the individual countries. The U.S. returned to a policy of interventionism when it felt its political and economic interests were threatened. With the breakup of the Soviet bloc in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the Soviet Union itself, Latin America sought to find new solutions to long-standing problems. With its Soviet alliance dissolved, Cuba entered a [[Special Period]] of severe economic disruption, high death rates, and food shortages.
[[File:Reforma agraria 1952.jpg|thumb|[[Agrarian reform]] poster, Guatemala 1952]]
Deeply alarming for the U.S. were two revolutions that threaten, fed its dominance in the region. The [[Guatemalan Revolution]] (1944–54) saw the replacement of a U.S.-backed regime of [[Jorge Ubico]] in 1945 followed by elections. [[reformism|Reformist]] [[Juan José Arévalo]] (1945–51) was elected and began instituting [[populism|populist]] reforms. Reforms included land laws that threatened the interests of large foreign-owned enterprises, a social security law, workmen's compensation, laws allowing labor to organize and strike, and [[universal suffrage]] except for illiterate women. His government established diplomatic ties with the [[Soviet Union]] in April 1945, when the Soviet Union and the U.S. were allied against the Axis powers. Communists entered leadership positions in the labor movement. At the end of his term, his hand-picked successor, the populist and nationalist [[Jacobo Arbenz]], was elected. Arbenz proposed placing capital in the hands of Guatemalans, building new infrastructure, and significant land reform via [[Decree 900]]. With what the U.S. considered the prospect of even more radical changes in Guatemala, it backed a [[coup]] against Arbenz in 1954, overthrowing him.<ref>Ebel, Roland H. "Juan José Arévalo". ''[[Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture]]'', v. 1, 141–42.</ref><ref>Ebel, Roland H, "Jacobo Arbenz". ''[[Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture]]'', v. 1, 120–122</ref><ref>Schneider, Ronald M. Latin American Political History: Patterns and Personalities. pg 274–275</ref> Argentine [[Che Guevara]] was in Guatemala during the Arbenz presidency; the coup ousting Arbenz was instructive for him and for Latin American nations seeking significant structural change.<ref>Rowlands, David T. "Guatemala: The coup that radicalised Che Guevara." Green Left Weekly 1011 (2014): 18.</ref> In 1954 the U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] aided successful military coup against Arbenz.

[[File:Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra.jpg|left|thumb|Fidel Castro and his men in the [[Sierra Maestra]], 2 December 1956]] 
The 1959 [[Cuban Revolution]] led by Cuban lawyer [[Fidel Castro]] overthrew the regime of [[Fulgencio Batista]], with 1 January 1959 marking as the revolution's victory. The revolution was a huge event not only in Cuban history, but also the history of Latin America and the world. Almost the immediately, the U.S. reacted with hostility against the new regime. As the revolutionaries began consolidating power, many middle- and upper-class Cubans left for the U.S., likely not expecting the Castro regime to last long. Cuba became a poorer and blacker country, and the Cuba Revolution sought to transform the social and economic inequalities and political instability of the previous regimes into a more socially and economically equal one. The government put emphasis on [[literacy]] as a key to Cuba's overall betterment, essentially wiping out illiteracy after an early major literacy campaign. Schools became a means to instill in Cuban students messages of nationalism, solidarity with the [[Third World]], and [[Marxism]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Cuba also made a commitment to [[universal health care]], so the education of doctors and construction of hospitals were top priorities. Cuba also sought to diversify its economy, until then based mainly on sugar, but also [[tobacco]].<ref>Liss, Sheldon B. "Cuba since 1959". ''[[Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture]]'', v. 1, 314–315.</ref>

The U.S. attempted to overthrow Castro, using the template of the successful 1954 coup in Guatemala. In the April 1961 [[Bay of Pigs invasion]], Cuba entered into a [[Cuba–Soviet Union relations|formal alliance with the Soviet Union]]. In February 1962, the U.S. [[United States embargo against Cuba|placed an embargo]] on trade with Cuba, which remains in force as of 2021.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/world/americas/un-resolution-cuba-embargo.html "U.N. resolution condemning trade embargo of Cuba"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624153621/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/world/americas/un-resolution-cuba-embargo.html |date=June 24, 2021 }} accessed 24 June 2021</ref> In February 1962, the U.S. pressured members of the [[Organization of American States]] to expel Cuba, attempting to isolate it. In response to the Bay of Pigs, Cuba called for revolution in the Americas. The efforts ultimately failed, most notably with [[Che Guevara]] in Bolivia, where he was isolated, captured, and executed.

When the U.S. discovered that the Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba in 1962, they reacted swiftly with a showdown now called the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], which ended with an agreement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, who did not consult Cuba about its terms. One term of the agreement was that the U.S. would cease efforts to invade Cuba, a guarantee of its sovereignty. However, the U.S. continued to attempt to remove Castro from power by assassination. The Soviet Union continued to materially support the Cuban regime, providing oil and other [[petrochemical]]s, technical support, and other aid, in exchange for Cuban sugar and tobacco.<ref>Liss, Sheldon B. "Cuba since 1959". ''[[Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture]]'', v. 1, 315–16.</ref>
[[File:D12 845 (438793783).jpg|thumb|left|[[Che Guevara]] Cuban revolutionary poster]]
From 1959 to 1992, Fidel Castro ruled as a [[caudillo]], or strong man, dominating politics and the international stage. His commitment to social and economic equality brought about positive changes in Cuba, including the improvement of the position of women, eliminating [[prostitution]], reducing homelessness, and raising the standard of living for most Cubans. However, Cuba lacks freedom of expression; dissenters were monitored by the [[Committees for the Defense of the Revolution]], and travel was restricted.<ref>Liss, Sheldon B. "Cuba since 1959". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, v. 1, 316–17.</ref> In 1980, Castro told Cubans who wanted to leave to do so, promising that the government would not stop them. The [[Mariel boatlift]] saw some 125,000 Cubans sail from the Cuban port of [[Mariel, Cuba|Mariel]], across the straits to the U.S., where [[Jimmy Carter|U.S. President Carter]] initially welcomed them.<ref>Larzelere, Alex. ''The 1980 Cuban Boatlift''. Washington, DC:National Defense University Press 1988</ref>

The Cuban Revolution had a tremendous impact not just on Cuba, but on Latin America as a whole, and the world. The Cuban Revolution was for many countries an inspiration and a model, but for the U.S. it was a challenge to its power and influence in Latin America. After leftists took power in Chile (1970) and Nicaragua (1979), Fidel Castro visited them both, extending Cuban solidarity. In Chile, [[Salvador Allende]] and a coalition of leftists, [[Popular Unity (Chile)|Unidad Popular]], won an electoral victory in 1970 and lasted until the violent military coup of 11 September 1973. In the [[Nicaragua Revolution|Nicaragua]] leftists held power from 1979 to 1990. The U.S. was concerned with the spread of communism in Latin America, and U.S. President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] responded to the threat he saw in the Dominican Republic's dictator [[Rafael Trujillo]], who voiced a desire to seek an alliance with the Soviet Union. In 1961, Trujillo was murdered with weapons supplied by the CIA.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/the-assassination-of-rafael-trujillo/| title = "The Assassination of Rafael Trujillo"| date = December 22, 2016| access-date = March 12, 2020| archive-date = August 28, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180828204134/http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/the-assassination-of-rafael-trujillo/| url-status = dead}}</ref> U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] initiated the [[Alliance for Progress]] in 1961, to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America and provide $20&nbsp;billion for reform and counterinsurgency measures. The reform failed because of the simplistic theory that guided it and the lack of experienced American experts who understood Latin American customs.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

From 1966 to the late 1980s, the Soviet government upgraded Cuba's military capabilities, and Cuba was active in [[Foreign interventions by Cuba|foreign interventions]], assisting with movements in several countries in Latin America and elsewhere in the world. Most notable were the [[MPLA]] during the [[Angolan Civil War]] and the [[Derg]] during the [[Ogaden War]]. They also supported governments and rebel movements in Syria, Mozambique, Algeria, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Vietnam.<ref>{{cite book |title=Parameters: Journal of the US Army War College |date=1977 |publisher=U.S. Army War College |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMdLAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13 |access-date=March 12, 2020 |archive-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040625/https://books.google.com/books?id=kMdLAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA13 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=CIA>{{cite web |title=Foreign Intervention by Cuba |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP77M00144R000400100003-7.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122223212/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP77M00144R000400100003-7.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 22, 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Reunión Pinochet - Kissinger.jpg|thumb|left|Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] and U.S. Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]]]]
In Chile, the postwar period saw uneven economic development. The mining sector ([[copper]], nitrates) continued to be important, but an industrial sector also emerged. The agricultural sector stagnated and Chile needed to import foodstuffs. After the 1958 election, Chile entered a period of reform. The [[secret ballot]] was introduced, the Communist Party was relegalized, and populism grew in the countryside. In 1970, democratic elections brought to power [[Socialism|socialist]] [[Salvador Allende]], who implemented many reforms begun in 1964 under [[Christian democracy|Christian Democrat]] [[Eduardo Frei Montalva|Eduardo Frei]]. The economy continued to depend on mineral exports and a large portion of the population reaped no benefits from the prosperity and modernity of some sectors. Chile had a long tradition of stable electoral democracy, In the 1970 election, a coalition of leftists, the [[Popular Unity (Chile)|Unidad Popular]] ("popular unity") candidate Allende was elected. Allende and his coalition held power for three years, with the increasing hostility of the U.S. The Chilean military staged a bloody coup with US support in 1973. The military under General [[Augusto Pinochet]] then held power until 1990.

[[File:Sandino en el Mausoleo de los Heroes y Mártires de León.jpg|thumb|left|The name [[Augusto Sandino]], Nicaraguan nationalist hero for his struggle against the United States, was taken by leftist guerrillas as the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front]] (FSLN).]]
[[File:Exhumation_in_San_Juan_Comalapa_Guatemala_03.jpg|thumb|Exhumation of corpses in the aftermath of the [[Guatemalan genocide]]]]
The 1970s and 1980s saw a large and complex political conflict in Central America. The U.S. administration of [[Ronald Reagan]] funded [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] governments and proxy fighters against left-wing challenges to the political order. Complicating matters were the [[liberation theology]] emerging in the Catholic Church and the rapid growth of [[evangelical Christianity]], which were entwined with politics. The Nicaraguan Revolution revealed the country as a major [[proxy war]] battleground in the [[Cold War]]. Although the initial overthrow of the Somoza regime in 1978–79 was a bloody affair, the Contra War of the 1980s took the lives of tens of thousands of Nicaraguans and was the subject of fierce international debate.<ref>Bakewell, Peter. ''A history of Latin America''. pg541-542</ref> During the 1980s both the FSLN (a leftist collection of political parties) and the Contras (a rightist collection of counter-revolutionary groups) received considerable aid from the Cold War superpowers. The Sandinistas allowed free elections in 1990 and after years of war, lost the election. They became the opposition party, following a peaceful transfer of power. A civil war in [[El Salvador]] pitted leftist guerrillas against a repressive government. The bloody war there ended in a [[stalemate]], and following the fall of the Soviet Union, a negotiated [[Chapultepec Peace Accords|peace]] accord ended the conflict in 1992. In Guatemala, the civil war included [[Guatemalan genocide|genocide]] of [[Maya civilization|Mayan]] peasants. A [[Guatemalan Peace Process 1994-1996|peace accord]] was reached in 1996 and the Catholic Church called for a [[truth and reconciliation commission]].

[[File:Óscar Arnulfo Romero with Pope Paul VI (2) cropped.png|thumb|left|Pope [[Paul VI]] and Salvadoran cleric [[Oscar Romero]] (now St Oscar Romero)]]
In the religious sphere, the Roman Catholic Church continued to be a major institution in nineteenth-century Latin America. For a number of countries in the nineteenth century, especially Mexico, liberals viewed the Catholic Church as an intransigent obstacle to modernization, and when liberals gained power, [[anticlericalism]] was written into law, such as the Mexican liberal [[Constitution of 1857]] and the [[Constitution of Uruguay|Uruguayan Constitution]] of 1913 which secularized the state. Nevertheless, most Latin Americans identified as Catholic, even if they did not attend church regularly. Many followed [[folk Catholicism]], venerated saints, and celebrated religious festivals. Many communities did not have a resident priest or even visits by priests to keep contact between the institutional church and the people. In the 1950s, evangelical Protestants began proselytizing in Latin America. In Brazil, the Catholic bishops organized themselves into a national council, aimed at better meeting the competition not only of Protestants, but also of secular socialism and communism. Following [[Second Vatican Council|Vatican II]] (1962–65) called by Pope [[John XXIII]], the Catholic Church initiated a series of major reforms empowering the laity. Pope [[Paul VI]] actively implemented reforms and sought to align the Catholic Church on the side of the dispossessed, ("[[Option for the poor|preferential option for the poor]]"), rather than remain a {{linktext|bulwark}} of conservative elites and right-wing repressive regimes. Colombian Catholic priest [[Camilo Torres Restrepo|Camilo Torres]] took up arms with the Colombian guerrilla movement [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|ELN]], which modeled itself on Cuba but was killed in his first combat in 1966.<ref>Bushnell, David. "Camilo Torres Restrepo". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, v. 5, 258–59</ref> In 1968, Pope Paul came to the meeting of Latin American bishops in [[Second Episcopal Conference of Latin America|Medellín]], Colombia. Peruvian priest [[Gustavo Gutiérrez]] was one of the founders of [[liberation theology]], a term he coined in 1968, sometimes described as linking Christianity and Marxism. Conservatives saw the church as politicized, and priests ask proselytizing leftist positions. Priests became targets as "subversives", such as Salvadoran Jesuit [[Rutilio Grande]]. Archbishop of El Salvador [[Oscar Romero|Óscar Romero]] called for an end to persecution of the church, and took positions of social justice. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980 while saying mass. Liberation theology informed the struggle by Nicaraguan leftists against the Somoza dictatorship, and when they came to power in 1979, the ruling group included some priests.

When a Polish cleric became Pope [[John Paul II]] following the death of Paul VI, and the brief papacy of [[John Paul I]], he reversed the progressive position of the church, evident in the 1979 Puebla conference of Latin American bishops. On a papal visit to Nicaragua in 1983, he reprimanded Father [[Ernesto Cardenal]], who was Minister of Culture, and called on priests to leave politics. Brazilian theologian [[Leonardo Boff]] was silenced by the Vatican. Despite the Vatican stance against liberation theology, articulated in 1984 by Cardinal [[Josef Ratzinger]], later Pope Benedict XVI, many Catholic clergy and laity worked against repressive military regimes. After a military coup ousted the democratically elected Salvador Allende, the Chilean Catholic Church was a force in opposition to the regime of [[Augusto Pinochet]] and for [[human rights]]. The Argentine Church did not follow the Chilean pattern of opposition however.<ref>Gill, Anthony J. Rendering unto Caesar? Religious competition and Catholic political strategy in Latin America, 1962–79. Routledge, 2019.</ref> When [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] Jorge Bergoglio was elected [[Pope Francis]], his actions during the [[Dirty War]] were an issue, as portrayed in the film ''[[The Two Popes]]''.
[[File:Se buscan - pidiendo justicia en Guatemala.jpg|thumb|Calls for justice in the wake of the [[Guatemalan genocide]]]]
Although most countries did not have Catholicism as the established religion, Protestantism made few inroads in the region until the late twentieth century. [[Evangelical Protestants]], particularly [[Pentecostals]], proselytized and gained adherents in Brazil, Central America, and elsewhere. In Brazil, Pentecostals had a long history. But in a number of countries ruled by military dictatorships many Catholics followed the social and political teachings of liberation theology and were seen as subversives. Under these conditions, the influence of religious non-Catholics grew. Evangelical churches often grew quickly in poor communities where small churches and members could participate in ecstatic worship, often many times a week. Pastors in these churches did attend a seminary nor were there other institutional requirements. In some cases, the first evangelical pastors came from the U.S., but these churches quickly became "Latin Americanized," with local pastors building religious communities. In some countries, they gained a significant hold and were not persecuted by military dictators, since they were largely apolitical.<ref>Stoll, David. Is Latin America turning Protestant?: the politics of evangelical growth. Univ of California Press, 1990.</ref> In Guatemala under General [[Efraín Ríos Montt]], an evangelical Christian, Catholic Maya peasants were targeted as subversives and [[Guatemalan genocide#Genocide under Ríos Montt|slaughtered]]. Perpetrators were later put on trial in Guatemala, including Ríos Montt.

=== Post–Cold War era ===
{{See also|Free Trade Area of the Americas|Washington Consensus}}

[[File:Ship passing through Panama Canal 01.jpg|right|thumb|[[Roll-on/roll-off]]
ships, such as this one pictured here at [[Miraflores (Panama)|Miraflores locks]], are among the largest ships to pass through the [[Panama Canal]]. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of [[Panama]] and is a key conduit for international maritime trade.]]
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cold War which saw U.S. intervention in Latin America as preventing Soviet influence dissipating. The Central American wars ended, with a free and fair election in Nicaragua that voted out the leftist Sandinistas, a peace treaty was concluded between factions in El Salvador, and the Guatemalan civil war ended. Cuba had lost its political and economic patron, the Soviet Union, which could no longer provide support. Cuba entered what is known there are the [[Special Period]], when the economy contracted severely, but the revolutionary government nonetheless retained power and the U.S. remained hostile to its revolution. U.S. policy-makers developed the [[Washington Consensus]], a set of specific economic policy prescriptions considered the standard reform package for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.–based institutions such as the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF), the [[World Bank]], and the [[United States Department of the Treasury|US Department of the Treasury]] during the 1980s and 1990s. The term has become associated with [[neoliberal]] policies in general and drawn into the broader debate over the expanding role of the free market, constraints upon the state, and US influence on other countries' national sovereignty.  The politico-economical initiative was institutionalized in North America by the 1994 [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]], and elsewhere in the Americas through a series of [[Free Trade Area of the Americas#Agreements|similar agreements]]. The comprehensive [[Free Trade Area of the Americas]] project, however, was rejected by most [[Mercosur|South American countries]] at the [[4th Summit of the Americas]] in 2005.

A [[Latin American debt crisis|debt crisis]] ensured after 1982 when the price of oil crashed and Mexico announced that it could not meet its foreign debt payment obligations. Other Latin American economies followed suit, with hyperinflation and the inability of governments to meet their debt obligations and the era became known as the "[[La Década Perdida|lost decade]]."<ref name="Hershberg & Rosen">Hershberg, Eric, and Fred Rosen, eds. ''Latin America after Neoliberalism''. New York: North American Congress on Latin America, 2006. Print.</ref> The debt crisis would lead to [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] reforms that would instigate many social movements in the region. A "reversal of development" reigned over Latin America, seen through negative economic growth, declines in industrial production, and thus, falling [[standard of living|living standards]] for the middle and lower classes.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Escobar|editor-first=Arturo|editor-first2=Sonia E.|editor-last2=Alvarez|title=The Making of Social Movements in Latin America|location=Boulder, CO|publisher=Westview|date=1992}}</ref> Governments made financial security their primary policy goal over social programs, enacting new neoliberal economic policies that implemented [[privatization]] of previously national industries and the [[informal sector]] of labor.<ref name="Hershberg & Rosen" /> In an effort to bring more investors to these industries, these governments also embraced [[globalization]] through more open interactions with the international economy.

Significantly, democratic governments began replacing military regimes across much of Latin America and the realm of the state became more inclusive (a trend that proved conducive to social movements), but economic ventures remained exclusive to a few elite groups within society. Neoliberal restructuring consistently redistributed income upward, while denying political responsibility to provide social welfare rights, and [[Development studies|development]] projects throughout the region increased both inequality and poverty.<ref name="Hershberg & Rosen" /> Feeling excluded from the new projects, the lower classes took ownership of their own democracy through a revitalization of social movements in Latin America.
[[File:Comandanta_Ramona_by_bastian.jpg|thumb|[[Comandanta Ramona]] of the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation]], Mexico]]
Both urban and rural populations had serious grievances as a result of economic and global trends and voiced them in mass demonstrations. Some of the largest and most violent have been protests against cuts in urban services to the poor, such as the [[Caracazo]] in Venezuela and the [[Argentinazo]] in Argentina.<ref name="Johnston & Almeida">Johnston, Hank, and Paul Almeida, eds. ''Latin American Social Movements''. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Print.</ref> In 2000, the [[Cochabamba Water War]] in Bolivia saw major protests against a [[World Bank]]-funded project that would have brought potable water to the city, but at a price that no residents could afford.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/706770.stm|title= AMERICAS &#124; Violence erupts in Bolivia|website=BBC News |date=8 April 2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411153210/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/706770.stm |archive-date= Apr 11, 2022 }}</ref> The title of the Oscar nominated film ''[[Even the Rain]]'' alludes to the fact that Cochabamba residents could no longer legally [[rainwater harvesting|collect rainwater]]; the film depicts the protest movement.

Rural movements made demands related to unequal land distribution, displacement at the hands of development projects and dams, environmental and Indigenous concerns, neoliberal agricultural restructuring, and insufficient means of livelihood. In Bolivia, [[cocalero|coca workers]] organized into a union, and [[Evo Morales]], ethnically an [[Aymara people|Aymara]], became its head. The cocaleros supported the struggles in the Cochabamba water war. The rural-urban coalition became a political party, [[Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)]] (MAS, "more"), which decisively won the 2005 presidential election, making Evo Morales the first Indigenous president of Bolivia. A documentary of the campaign, ''Cocalero'', shows how they successfully organized.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ91ku5rJxc |website=YouTube |title=Cocalero |access-date=27 June 2021 |author1=Monica Machicao |date=Jan 24, 2007 |archive-date=June 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627170407/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ91ku5rJxc |url-status=live }}</ref>

A number of movements have benefited considerably from transnational support from [[conservation movement|conservationists]] and [[International nongovernmental organizations|INGOs]]. The [[Landless Workers' Movement|Movement of Rural Landless Workers]] (MST) in Brazil for example is an important contemporary Latin American social movement.<ref name="Johnston & Almeida" />

Indigenous movements account for a large portion of rural social movements, including, in Mexico, the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation|Zapatista rebellion]] and the broad Indigenous movement in [[Guerrero]],<ref>Overmyer-Velázquez, Rebecca. "The anti-quincentenary campaign in Guerrero, Mexico: Indigenous identity and the dismantling of the myth of the revolution". Berkeley journal of sociology (2002): 79–112.</ref> Also important are the [[Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador]] (CONAIE) and Indigenous organizations in the Amazon region of Ecuador and Bolivia, pan-Mayan communities in Guatemala, and mobilization by the Indigenous groups of [[Yanomami]] peoples in the Amazon, [[Guna people|Kuna]] peoples in Panama, and Altiplano [[Aymara people|Aymara]] and [[Quechua people|Quechua]] peoples in Bolivia.<ref name="Johnston & Almeida" />

==21st century==

===Turn to the left===
{{see also|Pink tide}}
[[File:Unasul 29.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Left-leaning leaders of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile at the [[Union of South American Nations]] summit in 2008]]
Since the 2000s, or 1990s in some countries, left-wing political parties have risen to power. [[Hugo Chávez]] in Venezuela, [[Lula da Silva]] and [[Dilma Rousseff]] in Brazil, [[Fernando Lugo]] in Paraguay, [[Néstor Kirchner|Néstor]] and [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner|Cristina Kirchner]] in Argentina, [[Tabaré Vázquez]] and [[José Mujica]] in Uruguay, the [[Ricardo Lagos|Lagos]] and [[Michelle Bachelet|Bachelet]] governments in Chile, [[Evo Morales]] in Bolivia, [[Daniel Ortega]] in Nicaragua, [[Manuel Zelaya]] in Honduras (although deposed by the [[2009 Honduran coup d'état|28 June 2009 ''coup d'état'']]), and [[Rafael Correa]] of Ecuador are all part of this wave of left-wing politicians, who also often declare themselves [[Socialism|socialists]], Latin Americanists or [[Anti-Imperialism|anti-imperialists]].

===Turn to the right and resurgence of the left===
{{see also|Conservative wave|Pink tide}}
[[File:Foro sao paulo members 2023.svg|thumb|right|165px|In blue countries under right-wing governments and in red countries under left-wing and centre-left governments as of 2023]]
The '''conservative wave''' ({{langx|pt|onda conservadora}}) is a political phenomenon that emerged in mid-2010 in South America. In Brazil, it began roughly around the time [[Dilma Rousseff]], in a tight election, won the [[Brazilian general election, 2014|2014 presidential election]], kicking off the fourth term of the [[Workers' Party (Brazil)|Workers' Party]] in the highest position of government.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Boulos|first=Guilherme|title=Onda Conservadora|url=https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:fhDXDYBqEFcJ:scholar.google.com/+onda+conservadora&hl=pt-BR&lr=lang_pt&as_sdt=0,5|access-date=11 October 2017}}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In addition, according to the political analyst of the Inter-Union Department of Parliamentary Advice, Antônio Augusto de Queiroz, the [[National Congress of Brazil|National Congress]] [[Brazilian general election, 2014|elected in 2014]] may be considered the most conservative since the "re-democratization" movement, noting an increase in the number of parliamentarians linked to more conservative segments, as [[Ruralism|ruralists]], [[Military of Brazil|military]], [[Police of Brazil|police]] and [[religious conservatism|religious]].

The subsequent economic crisis of 2015 and investigations of corruption scandals led to a right-wing movement that sought to rescue ideas from [[economic liberalism]] and [[conservatism]] in [[Political opposition|opposition]] to [[Left-wing politics|left-wing policies]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Welle (www.dw.com) |first1=Deutsche |title=Is there a right-wing surge in South America? {{!}} DW {{!}} 28.10.2018 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/is-there-a-right-wing-surge-in-south-america/a-45874897 |work=DW.COM}}</ref>

A resurgence of the rise of left-wing political parties in Latin America by their electoral victories, however, was initiated by [[2018 Mexican general election|Mexico]] in 2018 and [[2019 Argentine general election|Argentina]] in 2019, and further strengthened by [[2020 Bolivian general election|Bolivia]] in 2020 along with [[2021 Peruvian general election|Peru]], [[2021 Honduran general election|Honduras]] and [[2021 Chilean general election|Chile]] in 2021 and [[2022 Colombian presidential election|Colombia]] and [[2022 Brazilian general election|Brazil]] in 2022.<ref>{{cite web|last=Taher|first=Rahib|title=A Miraculous MAS Victory in Bolivia and the Resurgence of the Pink Tide|date=9 January 2021|url=https://thesciencesurvey.com/editorial/2021/01/09/a-miraculous-mas-victory-in-bolivia-and-the-resurgence-of-the-pink-tide/|access-date=22 January 2022|website=The Science Survey}}</ref> However, right-wing candidates won both [[2023 Ecuadorian general election|Ecuador’s]] and [[2023 Argentine general election|Argentina's]] presidential elections in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bertelli |first1=Michele |title=He is Ecuador's youngest president-elect. What lies ahead for Daniel Noboa? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/21/he-is-ecuadors-youngest-president-elect-what-lies-ahead-for-daniel-noboa |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Javier Milei: Argentina's far-right outsider wins presidential election |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67470549 |date=19 November 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{section link|Historiography|Latin America}}
* [[Historiography of Colonial Spanish America]]
* [[Latin America–United Kingdom relations]]
* [[History of Latin America–United States relations]]
* {{section link|List of history journals|Latin America and the Caribbean}}
* [[Conference on Latin American History]]
* [[Latin American studies]]
* [[History of South America]]

=== Topics ===

*[[Economic history of Latin America|Economy]]
* [[Environmental history of Latin America|Environment]]
* [[History of sport in Latin America|Sports]]

===Pre-Columbian===
{{col-begin-small}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[Oasisamerica]]:'''

*[[Apache]]
*[[Comanche]]
*[[Coahuiltecan]]
*[[Cocopah]]
*[[Pima people|Pima]]
*[[Puebloan peoples]]
*[[Navajo people|Navajo]]
*[[Quechan]]

{{col-4}}
'''[[Aridoamerica]]:'''

*[[Caxcan]]
*[[Guachichil]]
*[[Guamare]]
*[[Chichimeca Jonaz people|Chichimeca Jonaz]]
*[[Cora people|Cora]]
*[[Huichol people|Huichol]]
*[[Mayo people|Mayos]]
*[[Otomi people|Otomi]]
*[[O'odham]]
*[[Pame people|Pame]]
*[[Tecuexe]]
*[[Tepehuán people|Tepehuánes]]
*[[Yaqui]]s
*[[Zacateco]]
{{col-4}}
'''[[Mesoamerica]]:'''
*[[History of the Aztecs|Aztec]]
*[[Huastec people|Huastec]]
*[[Mixtec]]
*[[Maya civilization|Maya]]
*[[Olmec]]
*[[Pipils|Pipil]]
*[[Tarascan state|Tarascan]]
*[[Teotihuacán]]
*[[Toltec]]
*[[Totonac]]
*[[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]]
{{col-4}}
'''South America:'''
*[[Arawak]]
*[[Chavín culture|Chavín]]
*[[Chibcha]]
*[[Chimor]]
*[[Chachapoyas culture|Chachapoya]]
*[[Huari culture|Huari]]
*[[History of the Inca|Inca]]
*[[Island Carib]]
*[[Kalina people|Kalina]]
*[[Mapuche]]
*[[Moche (culture)|Moche]]
*[[Nazca]]
*[[Tairona]]
*[[Tiwanaku]]
{{col-end}}

===Colonization===
[[British colonization of the Americas]], [[Danish colonization of the Americas]], [[Dutch colonization of the Americas]], [[New Netherland]], [[French colonization of the Americas|French]] [[New France]], [[Portuguese colonization of the Americas|Portuguese]], [[Russian colonization of the Americas|Russian]], [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish]], [[New Spain]], [[Conquistador]], [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán]], [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]], [[Spanish missions in California]], [[Swedish colonization of the Americas|Swedish]]

===History by region===
{{History of the Americas}}

===History by country===
{{North America topic|History of}}
{{Central America topic|History of}}
{{Caribbean topic|History of|nolinkvi=y}}
{{South America in topic|History of}}

===Other topics===
* [[Latin Americans]]
* [[Latin American integration]]
* [[Feminist history in Latin America]]
* [[History of the Jews in Latin America]]
* [[Latin America–United States relations]]
* [[Latin American debt crisis]]
* [[Territorial evolution of the Caribbean]]
* [[History of South America]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Adam, Thomas, ed. ''Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History'' (3 vol, 2005) [https://www.amazon.com/Germany-Americas-Politics-Transatlantic-Relations/dp/1851096280/  excerpt]
*Bakewell, Peter, ''A History of Latin America" (Blackwell History of the World'' (Blackwell, 1997)
*[[Leslie Bethell|Bethell, Leslie]]  (ed.), ''[[The Cambridge History of Latin America]]'', Cambridge University Press, 12 vol, 1984–2008
*Burns, E. Bradford, ''Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History'', paperback, Prentice Hall 2001, 7th edition
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110410104514/http://www.bepress.com/ngs/vol3/iss3/art4/ Goebel, Michael, "Globalizatitionalism in Latin America, c.1750-1950", ''New Global Studies'' 3 (2009)].
* Halperín Donghi, Tulio. ''The contemporary history of Latin America''. Durham : Duke University Press, 1993.
*Herring, Hubert, ''A History of Latin America: from the Beginnings to the Present'', 1955. {{ISBN|0-07-553562-9}}
* Kaufman, Will, and Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson, eds. ''Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History'' (3 vol 2005), 1157pp; encyclopedic coverage; [https://www.amazon.com/Britain-Americas-Politics-Transatlantic-Relations/dp/1851094318/ excerpt]
* [[James Lockhart (historian)|Lockhart, James]] and [[Stuart B. Schwartz]]. ''Early Latin America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1983. 
* Marshall, Bill, ed. ''France and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History'' (3 vol. 2005) [https://www.amazon.com/France-Americas-Politics-Transatlantic-Relations/dp/1851094113/ excerpt]
* [[Walter Mignolo|Mignolo, Walter]]. ''The Idea of Latin America''. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-4051-0086-1}}.
* Miller, Rory. ''Britain and Latin America in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries''. London: Longman 1993.
* Miller, Shawn William. ''An Environmental History of Latin America''. New York: Cambridge University Press 2007.
* [[John Frederick Schwaller|Schwaller, John Frederick]]. ''The History of the Catholic Church in Latin America: From Conquest to Revolution and Beyond'' (New York University Press; 2011) 319 pages
* Trigger, Bruce, and Wilcomb E. Washburn, eds. ''The Cambridge history of the native peoples of the Americas'' (3 vols. 1996)
*{{cite book |last1=Keen |first1=Benjamin |author1-link=Benjamin Keen |last2=Haynes |first2=Keith |title=A History of Latin America |date=2013 |publisher=Wadsworth |location=Boston |page=|edition=9th}}
{{div col end|2}}

===Historiography===
* Murillo, Dana Velasco. "Modern local history in Spanish American historiography." ''History Compass'' 15.7 (2017).  DOI: 10.1111/hic3.12387

===Colonial era===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Jeremy Adelman|Adelman, Jeremy]], ed. ''Colonial Legacies: The Problem of Persistence in Latin American History''. New York: Routledge 1999.
* Alchon, Suzanne Austin. ''A Pest in the Land: New World Epidemics in Global Perspective''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2003.
* Andrien, Kenneth J. ''The Human Tradition in Colonial Spanish America''. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources 2002.
* [[David Brading|Brading, D.A.]] ''The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492-1867''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1991.
* [[Jorge Canizares-Esguerra|Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge]]. ''How to Write the History of the New World: Histories, Epistemologies, and Identities in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2001.
* Brown, Jonathan C. ''Latin America: A Social History of the Colonial Period'', Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2nd edition 2004.
* [[Alfred W. Crosby|Crosby, Alfred W.]] ''The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492''. 30th anniversary edition. Westport: Praeger 2003.
* Denevan, William M., ed. ''The Native Population of the Americas ca. 1492''. 2nd edition. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1992.
* Donahue-Wallace, Kelly. ''Art and Architecture of Viceregal Latin America, 1521-1821''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2008.
* Fisher, John R. ''Economic Aspects of Spanish Imperialism in America, 1492-1810''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press 1997.
* Gonzalez, Ondina E. and Bianca Premo, eds. ''Raising an Empire: Children in Early Modern Iberia and Colonial Latin America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2007.
* [[Clarence H. Haring|Haring, Clarence H.]], ''The Spanish Empire in America''. New York: Oxford University Press 1947.
* Hill, Ruth. ''Hierarchy, Commerce, and Fraud in Bourbon Spanish America''. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press 2006.
* Hoberman, Louisa Schell and Susan Migden Socolow, eds. ''Cities and Society in Colonial Spanish America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1986.
* Hoberman, Louisa Schell and Susan Migden Socolow, eds. ''The Countryside in Colonial Spanish America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1986.
* Johnson, Lyman L. and Sonya Lipsett-Rivera, eds. ''The Faces of Honor: Sex, Shame, and Violence in Colonial Latin America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1998.
* Kagan, Richard. ''Urban Images of the Hispanic World, 1493-1793''. New Haven: Yale University Press 2000.
* Kinsbruner, Jay. ''The Colonial Spanish-American City: Urban Life in the Age of Atlantic Capitalism''. Austin: University of Texas Press 2005.
* [[Herbert S. Klein|Klein, Herbert S.]], ''The American Finances of the Spanish Empire: Royal Income and Expenditures in Colonial Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, 1680-1809''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1998.
* Klein, Herbert S. and [[Ben Vinson III]]. ''African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean''. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press 2007.
* Landers, Jane G. and Barry M. Robinson, eds. ''Slaves,  Subjects, and Subversives: Blacks in Colonial Latin America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2006.
* Lane, Kris, ''Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750''. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe 1998.
* [[John Tate Lanning|Lanning, John Tate]]. ''The Royal Protomedicato: The Regulation of the Medical Profession in the Spanish Empire''. Ed. John Jay TePaske. Durham: Duke University Press 1985. 
* [[James Lockhart (historian)|Lockhart, James]] and [[Stuart B. Schwartz|Schwartz, Stuart B.]], ''Early Latin America''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1983.
* Lynch, John. ''The Hispanic World in Crisis and Change, 1598-1700''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1992.
* [[Murdo J. MacLeod (historian)|MacLeod, Murdo J.]], ''Spanish Central America: A Socioeconomic History, 1520-1720''. Revised edition. Austin: University of Texas Press 2007.
* McKnight, Kathryn J. ''Afro-Latino Voices: Narratives from the Early Modern Ibero-Atlantic World, 1550–1812'' (Hackett Publishing Company 2009)
* Muldoon, James. ''The Americas in the Spanish World Order: The Justification of Conquest in the Seventeenth Century''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 1998.
* Myers, Kathleen Ann. ''Neither Saints nor Sinners: Writing the Lives of Women in Spanish America''. New York: Oxford University Press 2003.
* Pagden, Anthony. ''Spanish Imperialism and the Political Imagination: Studies in European and Spanish-American Social and Political Theory, 1513-1830''. New Haven: Yale University Press 1990.
* Paquette, Gabriel B. ''Enlightenment, Governance, and Reform in Spain and its Empire, 1759-1808''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2008.
* Pearce, Adrian. ''British Trade with Spanish America, 1763-1808''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press 2008.
* Perry, Elizabeth Mary and Anne J. Cruz, eds. ''Cultural Encounters: The Impact of the Inquisition in Spain and the New World''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1991.
* Powers, Karen Vieira. ''Women in the Crucible of Conquest: The Gendered Genesis of Spanish American Society, 1500-1600''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2005.
* Robinson, David J., ed. ''Migration in Colonial Spanish America''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1990.
* Russell-Wood, A.J.R. ''Slavery and Freedom in Colonial Brazil''. 2nd. ed. Oneworld Publications 2002.
* Safier, Neil. ''Measuring the New World: Enlightenment Science and South America''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 2008.
* Schwartz, Stuart B. ''All Can be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Atlantic World''. New Haven: Yale University Press 1981.
* Socolow, Susan Migden. ''The Women of Colonial Latin America''. New York: Cambridge University Press 2000.
* Stein, Stanley J. and Barbara H. Stein. ''Apogee of Empire: Spain and New Spain in the Age of Charles III, 1759-1789''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2003.
* Stein, Stanley J. and Barbara H. Stein. ''Silver, Trade, and War: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2000.
* Super, John D. ''Food, Conquest, and Colonization in Sixteenth-Century Spanish America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1988.
* Trusted, Marjorie. ''The Arts of Spain: Iberia and Latin America 1450-1700''. University Park: Penn State Press 2007.
* Twinam, Ann. ''Public Lives, Private Secrets: Gender, Honor, Sexuality, and Illegitimacy in Colonial Spanish America''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1999.
* Van Oss, A.C. ''Church and Society in Spanish America''. Amsterdam: Aksant 2003.
* Weber, David J. ''Bárbaros: Spaniards and Their Savages in the Age of Enlightenment''. New Haven: Yale University Press 2005.
{{div col end|2}}

===Independence era===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Adelman, Jeremy. ''Sovereignty and Revolution in the Iberian Atlantic''. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2006.
* Andrien, Kenneth J. and Lyman L. Johnson, eds. ''The Political Economy of Spanish America in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1850''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1994.
* Blanchard, Peter. ''Under the Flags of Freedom: Slave Soldiers and the Wars of Independence in Spanish America''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press 2008.
* Chasteen, John Charles. ''Americanos: Latin America's Struggle for Independence''. New York: Oxford University Press 2008.
* Davies, Catherine, Claire Brewster, and Hilary Owen. ''South American Independence: Gender, Politics, Text''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press 2007.
* Halperín Donghi, Tulio. ''The aftermath of revolution in Latin America''. New York, Harper & Row [1973]
* Johnson, Lyman L. and Enrique Tandanter, eds. ''Essays on the Price History of Eighteenth-Century Latin America''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1990.
* Lynch, John, ed. ''Latin American revolutions, 1808-1826: old and new world origins'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 1994)
* Lynch, John. ''The Spanish American Revolutions, 1808-1826'' (1973)
* McFarlane, Anthony. ''War and Independence in Spanish America'' (2008).
* Racine, Karen. "Simón Bolívar and friends: Recent biographies of independence figures in Colombia and Venezuela" ''History Compass'' 18#3 (Feb 2020) https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12608
* Rodríguez, Jaime E. ''Independence of Spanish America'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
{{div col end|2}}

===Modern era===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Barclay, Glen. ''Struggle for a Continent: The Diplomatic History of South America, 1917-1945'' (1972) 214pp
* Bulmer-Thomas, Victor. ''The Economic History of Latin America since Independence'' (2nd ed. Cambridge UP, 2003) [https://archive.org/details/economichistoryo0000bulm_f8b7 online]
* Burns, E. Bradford, ''The Poverty of Progress: Latin America in the Nineteenth Century''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1980.
*  Drinot, Paulo and Alan Knight, eds. ''The Great Depression in Latin America'' (2014) [https://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Latin-America/dp/082235750X/ excerpt]
* Gilderhus, Mark T. ''The Second Century: US--Latin American Relations Since 1889'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000)
*Green, Duncan, ''Silent Revolution: The Rise and Crisis of Market Economics in Latin America'', New York University Press 2003
* Kirkendall, Andrew J. "Cold War Latin America: The State of the Field" ''H-Diplo Essay No. 119: An H-Diplo State of the Field Essay'' (Nov. 2014) [https://networks.h-net.org/system/files/contributed-files/e119.pdf online] evaluates 50+ scholarly books and articles
* Pettinà, Vanni. ''A Compact History of Latin America’s Cold War'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2022) See [https://hdiplo.org/to/RT24-35 reviews by 5 scholars and reply by Pettina online]
*Schoultz, Lars, ''Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy Toward Latin America'', Harvard University Press 1998
* Skidmore, Thomas E. and Smith, Peter H., ''Modern Latin America'', Oxford University Press 2005
* Stein, Stanley J. and Shane J. Hunt. "Principal Currents in the Economic Historiography of Latin America," ''Journal of Economic History'' Vol. 31, No. 1, (March 1971), pp.&nbsp;222–253 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2117032 in JSTOR]
*[[Arturo Valenzuela|Valenzuela, Arturo]]. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070221132801/http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/gratis/Valenzuela-15-4.pdf Latin American Presidencies Interrupted]" in ''[[Journal of Democracy]]'' Volume 15, Number 4 October 2004
* Woodward, Ralph Lee, ''Positivism in Latin America, 1850-1900: Are order and progress reconcilable?'' Lexington, Mass., Heath [1971]
{{div col end|2}}

{{Latin America topics}}
{{Americas topic|History of}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Latin America}}
[[Category:History of the Americas]]
[[Category:History of North America]]
[[Category:History of South America]]
[[Category:Latin American history]]
[[Category:Latin American studies]]