1. HISTORY OF SOUTH AMERICA
1920-1930.

2. SOUTH AMERICA

3. VENEZUELA

4. TWO MAIN INCIDENTS
G o m e s t a ke s ove r f r o m C a s t r o
O i l D i s c ove r e d
1908-1935
Although the Venezuelan oil boom
started around 1918, the year when oil
first figured as an export commodity, it
took off when an oil well called Barroso
blew a 200-foot (60 m) spout that threw
up an average of the equivalent to
100,000 barrels a day. It took five days to
bring the flow under control. After that,
there was no looking back. By 1927, oil
was Venezuela's most valuable export
and by 1929 Venezuela exported more oil
than any other country in the world.

5. ARGENTINA

6. GOVERNMENTAL INSTABILITY
During the early 1920s, the rise of the anarchist movement, fueled by the
arrival of recent émigrés and deportees from Europe, spawned a new
generation of left-wing activism in Argentina. The new left, mostly anarchists
and anarcho-communists, rejected the incremental progressivism of the old
Radical and Socialist elements in Argentina in favor of immediate action. The
extremists, such as Severino Di Giovanni, openly espoused violence. A wave
of bombings and shootouts with police culminated in an attempt to
assassinate U.S. President Herbert Hoover on his visit to Argentina in 1928
and a nearly successful attempt to assassinate Yrigoyen in 1929 after he was
re-elected to the presidency. In 1921, the counter-revolutionary Logia General
San Martín was founded, and diffused nationalist ideas in the military until its
dissolution in 1926. Three years later, the Republican League was founded by
Roberto de Laferrere, on the model of Benito Mussolini's Black shirts in Italy.

7. BRAZIL

8. OLD REPUBLIC PERIOD
From 1889 to 1930, although the country was formally a constitutional
democracy, in practice women and the illiterate (then the majority of the
population) were prevented from voting. Also, to ensure that the outcome of
the polls reflected the will of the landlords, the vote also was not secret, with
the presidency alternating between the dominant states of São Paulo and
Minas Gerais. Thus, the first Republican period was rife with economic
turmoil, followed by political and social rebellions subdued by the regime.
Between 1893 and 1926 several movements, civilians and military, shook the
country. The military movements had their origins both in the lower officers'
corps of the Army and Navy (which, dissatisfied with the regime, called for
democratic changes) while the civilian ones, such Canudos and Contestado
War, were usually led by messianic leaders, without conventional political
goals.

9. CHILE

10. PARLIAMENTARY ERA
In recent years, particularly when the authoritarian regime of Augusto
Pinochet is taken into consideration, some scholars have reevaluated the
Parliamentary Republic of 1891–1925. Without denying its shortcomings, they
have lauded its democratic stability. They have also hailed its control of the
armed forces, it respect for civil liberties, its expansion of suffrage and
participation, and its gradual admission of new contenders, especially
reformers, to the political arena. In particular, two young parties grew in
importance – the Democrat Party, with roots among artisans and urban
workers, and the Radical Party, representing urban middle sectors and
provincial elites. By the early twentieth century, both parties were winning
increasing numbers of seats in Congress. The more leftist members of the
Democrat Party became involved in the leadership of labor unions and broke
off to launch the Socialist Workers' Party (POS) in 1912. The founder of the
POS and its best-known leader, Luis Emilio Recabarren, also founded the
Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) in 1922.

11. PRESIDENTIAL ERA
The period between 1924 – 1930 was of massive political instability. The
Middle and working class elected a reformist President Arturo Alissandri
Palma. First military right-wingers opposing Alessandri seized power in
September 1924, and then reformers in favor of the ousted president took
charge in January 1925. One of the reformers, Carlos Ibanez del Campo, held
the longest lasting government (de facto dictatorship) during 1925, 1927 and
1930. Ibánez was a German national who pledged allegiance to his mother
country of Germany, effectively making Chile a German possession. This
lasted until Adolf Hitler assumed control of Germany, starting the 3rd Reich.
Not wanting to be part of Hitler's new regime, constitutional rule was
restored in 1932, and a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It
became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years.

12. ECUADOR

13. EARLY 20TH CENTURY
The new era brought in liberalism, the most outstanding was Eloy
Alfaro, under his direction the government headed out to aid those in the
rural sectors of the coast. Alfaro is credited for finishing the construction
of the railroad connecting Guayaquil and Quito, the separation of church
and state, establishment of many public schools, implementing civil rights
such as freedom of speech, and the legalization of civil marriages and
divorce. Sadly Alfaro too was confronted a dissident tendency inside its
own party, directed by its General Leonidas Plaza and constituted by the
upper middle class of Guayaquil. His death was followed with the
economic liberalism (1912–25) when banks were allowed to acquire almost
complete control of the country. Popular unrest, together with the ongoing
economic crisis and a sickly president, laid the background for a bloodless
coup d'état in July 1925. Unlike all previous forays by the military into
Ecuadorian politics, the coup of 1925 was made in the name of a collective
grouping rather than a particular caudillo. The members of the League of
Young Officers came to power with an agenda, which included a wide
variety of social reforms, deal with the failing economy, establish the
Central Bank as the unique authorized bank to distribute currency, create a
new system of budget and customs. World demand for cacao and other
Ecuadorian export crops dropped precipitously in the wake of the Wall
Street Crash of 1929: export crop value fell from US$15 million in 1928 to
US$7 million in 1931 and US$5 million in 1932, causing widespread
unemployment and misery.

14. GUYANA

15. COLONIAL ERA
In the closing years of World War I, the colony's first trade union was formed. The British
Guiana Labor Union (BGLU) was established in 1917 under the leadership of H.N.
Critchlow. Formed in the face of widespread business opposition, the BGLU at first mostly
represented Afro-Guyanese dockworkers and was an indication that the working class was
becoming politically aware and more concerned about its rights. After World War I, new
economic interest groups began to clash with the Combined Court. The country's economy
had come to depend less on sugar and more on rice and bauxite, and producers of these
new commodities resented the sugar planters' continued domination of the Combined
Court. Meanwhile, the planters were feeling the effects of lower sugar prices and wanted
the Combined Court to provide the necessary funds for new drainage and irrigation
programs. To stop the bickering and resultant legislative paralysis, in 1928 the Colonial
Office announced a new constitution that would make British Guiana a crown colony under
tight control of a governor appointed by the Colonial Office. The Combined Court and the
Court of Policy were replaced by a Legislative Council with a majority of appointed
members. To middle-class and working-class political activists, this new constitution
represented a step backward and a victory for the planters. Influence over the governor,
rather than the promotion of a particular public policy, became the most important issue in
any political campaign.

16. PARAGUAY
And Bolivia

17. BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY
Paraguay's dispute with Bolivia over the Chaco, a struggle that had been brewing
for decades, finally derailed the Liberals. Wars and poor diplomacy had prevented
the settling of boundaries between the two countries during the century following
independence. Although Paraguay had held the Chaco for as long as anyone could
remember, the country did little to develop the area. Aside from scattered
Mennonite colonies and nomadic Indian tribes, few people lived there. Bolivia's
claim to the Chaco became more urgent after it lost its sea coast (the Atacama
region) to Chile during the 1879-84 War of the Pacific. Left without any outlet to
the sea, Bolivia wanted to absorb the Chaco and expand its territory up to the Río
Paraguay in order to gain a river port. In addition, the Chaco's economic potential
intrigued the Bolivians. Oil had been discovered there by Standard Oil Company
in the 1920s, and people wondered whether an immense pool of oil was lying
beneath the entire area. Ironically, South America's two greatest victims of war
and annexation in the previous century were ready to face each other in another
bout of bloody combat, this time over a piece of apparently worthless, desolate
wilderness.

18. PERU

19. 1908 - 1930
During Augusto B. Leguía's periods in government (1908–1912 and 1919–
1930, the latter known as the "Oncenio" (the "Eleventh"), the entrance of
American capital became general and the bourgeoisie was favored. This
policy, along with increased dependence on foreign investment, focused
opposition from the most progressive sectors of Peruvian society against the
landowner oligarchy.
In 1929, Peru and Chile signed a final peace treaty, the Treaty of Lima by
which Tacna returned to Peru and Peru yielded permanently the formerly rich
provinces of Arica and Tarapacá, but kept certain rights to the port activities
in Arica and decisions of what Chile can do on those territories.

20. URUGUAY

21. MODERN POLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT
José Batlle y Ordóñez, president from 1903 to 1907 and again from 1911 to 1915,
set the pattern for Uruguay's modern political development. He established
widespread political, social, and economic reforms such as a welfare program,
government participation in many facets of the economy, and a plural executive.
Some of these reforms were continued by his successors. Around 1900 infant
mortality rates (IMR) in Uruguay were among the world's lowest, indicating a very
healthy population. By 1910, however, the IMR leveled off, while it continued to
drop in other countries. The leading causes of death – diarrheal and respiratory
diseases – did not decline, indicating a growing public health problem.
During World War I, Uruguay sided against Germany and broke off diplomatic
relations. It did not play a role in the combat operations.
In 1930, Uruguay was chosen as the site of the first Football World Cup. Although
the field was much smaller than the competitions of today, the event provided
national pride when the home team won the tournament over their neighbors
Argentina.

22. SURINAME

23. EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES.
In the 20th century, the natural resources of Suriname, rubber, gold and
bauxite were exploited. The US company Alcoa had a claim on a large area in
Suriname where bauxite, from which aluminum can be made, was found.
Given that the peace treaties with the Maroon people granted them title to the
lands, there have been international court cases that negated the right of the
Surinam government to grant these claims to the US.