MIDDLE AMERICA (CHAPTER 4)

INTRODUCTION TO MIDDLE AMERICA

DEFINING THE REALM MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN

ISLANDS

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES FRAGMENTED - PHYSICALLY AND POLITICALLY DIVERSE CULTURALLY – AFRICAN (CARIBBEAN),

NATIVE AMERICAN & SPANISH (MEXICO & CENTRAL AMERICA)

POVERTY IS ENDEMIC (LEAST DEV. IN THE AMERICAS

REGIONS OF MIDDLE AMERICA

MEXICO

CENTRAL AMERICA

GREATER ANTILLES

LESSER ANTILLES

CENTRAL AMERICA

THE SEVEN REPUBLICS

Guatemala Belize Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica Panama

THE CARIBBEAN BASIN

The Greater Antilles Cuba Hispaniola – Haiti &

Dominican Rep. Jamaica Puerto Rico

The Lesser Antilles The smaller Islands, e.g.

Bahamas, etc.

THECARIBBEAN

BASIN

MIDDLE AMERICA

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY LAND BRIDGE ARCHIPELAGO (“ISLAND CHAIN”)

GREATER AND LESSER ANTILLES (ABOUT 7,000 ISLANDS)

NATURAL HAZARDS EARTHQUAKES VOLCANOES HURRICANES MOST DANGEROUS REALM OF ALL!

I wonder why?

WORLD TECTONIC PLATES

DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOES

WORLD HURRICANE TRACKS

Pg 211, see caption

CULTURE HEARTH SOURCE AREAS FROM WHICH

RADIATED IDEAS, INNOVATIONS, AND IDEOLOGIES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD BEYOND.

STARTED IN WHAT IS NOW MEXICO

AZTECMAYA

MESOAMERICA (“MIDDLE”) CULTURE HEARTHS MAYA CIVILIZATION

3000 BC CLASSIC PERIOD 200-900 AD HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, BELIZE, YUCATAN

PENINSULA THEOCRATIC STRUCTURE

AZTEC CIVILIZATION 1300 AD VALLEY OF MEXICO TENOCHTITLAN (>100,000 PEOPLE)

THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM

LAND WAS APPROPRIATED - COLONIAL COMMERCIAL INTERESTS (MAP, PG 214)

LANDS PREVIOUSLY DEVOTED TO FOOD CROPS FOR LOCAL CONSUMPTION WERE CONVERTED TO CASH CROPPING FOR EXPORT

LAND ALIENATION INDUCES: FAMINE POVERTY MIGRATION LITTLE AGRICULTURAL DIVERSITY

COLONIAL SPHERES

MAINLAND / RIMLAND FRAMEWORK

MAINLAND EURO-INDIAN INFLUENCE GREATER ISOLATION HACIENDA PREVAILED

RIMLAND EURO-AFRICAN INFLUENCE HIGH ACCESSIBILITY (surrounded by

oceans) PLANTATION ECONOMY

MAINLAND – RIMLAND DISTINCTION

MAINLAND vs RIMLAND

LOCATION GREATER ISOLATION GREATER ACCESSIBILITY

CLIMATE ALTITUDINAL TROPICALZONATION

PHYSIOGRAPHY MOUNTAINS ISLANDS

CULTURE EURO / INDIAN EURO / AFRICAN

RACE MESTIZO MULATTO

LANDHOLDING HACIENDAS PLANTATIONPATTERNS

CULTIVATION LESS INTENSIVE MORE INTENSIVE, HENCE SLAVES

MAINLAND RIMLAND

ALTITUDINAL ZONATION

Middle & South America’s Vertical Climate Zones

HACIENDA vs PLANTATION

HACIENDA SPANISH INSTITUTION NOT EFFICIENT BUT BROUGHT

SOCIAL PRESTIGE WORKERS LIVED ON THE LAND

PLANTATION NORTHERN EUROPEAN ORIGINS EXPORT ORIENTED MONOCROPS IMPORTED CAPITAL AND SKILLS SEASONAL LABOR EFFICIENCY IS KEY

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

PLANTATIONPLANTATIONPLANTATIONPLANTATION HACIENDAHACIENDAHACIENDAHACIENDA

•PRODUCTION FOR EXPORTPRODUCTION FOR EXPORT•SINGLE CASH CROPSINGLE CASH CROP•SEASONAL EMPLOYMENTSEASONAL EMPLOYMENT•PROFIT MOTIVE $$$PROFIT MOTIVE $$$•MARKET VULNERABILITYMARKET VULNERABILITY

EJIDOEJIDO

•DOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC MARKET•DIVERSIFIED CROPSDIVERSIFIED CROPS•YEAR ROUND JOBS YEAR ROUND JOBS •SMALL PLOT OF LANDSMALL PLOT OF LAND•SELF-SUFFICIENTSELF-SUFFICIENT

•SMALL SURPLUSESSMALL SURPLUSES•LAND “OWNERSHIP”LAND “OWNERSHIP”•COMMUNAL VILLAGECOMMUNAL VILLAGE•COLLECTIVECOLLECTIVE

MAQUILADORASTijuana

NogalesCiudadJuarez

Matamoros

Reynosa

Monterrey

Chihuahua

Modern industrial plants Assemble imported, duty-free components/raw

materials Export the finished products Mostly foreign-owned (U.S., Japan) 80% of goods reexported to U.S. Tariffs limited to value added during assembly

MAQUILADORAS

GDP PER CAPITA ALONG THE US-MEXICAN BORDER

Initiated in the 1960s

Assembly plants that pioneered the migration of industries in the 1970s

Today

>4,000 maquiladoras

>1.2 million employees

MAQUILADORAS

Maquiladora products

MAQUILADORAS

Electronic equipment Electric appliances Auto parts Clothing Furniture

Advantages Mexico gains jobs. Foreign owners benefit from cheaper labor costs.

Disadvantages – U.S. Jobs Effects

Regional development Development of an international growth corridor

between Monterrey and Dallas - Fort Worth

MAQUILADORAS

NAFTA

Effective 1 January 1994 Established a trade agreement between

Mexico, Canada and the US, which: Reduced and regulated trade tariffs (taxes),

barriers, and quotas between members Standardized finance & service exchanges

NAFTA

How has Mexico benefited from NAFTA?

MEXICO AND NAFTA

Foremost, it promises a higher standard of living. NAFTA creates more jobs for Mexicans as US

companies begin to invest more heavily in the Mexican market.

Mexican exporters increase their sales to the US and Canada.

Downside – cheap U.S. corn now floods Mexico, leading to bankruptcies among local farmers.

U.S. TRADE WITH CANADA & MEXICO

Canada remains as the United States’ largest export market.

Since 1977, Mexico has moved into second place (displacing Japan).

85% of all Mexican exports now go to the United States.

75% of Mexico’s imports originate in the United States.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Tropical Deforestation 3 million acres of woodland in Central America

disappear each year! (we’ll talk about Brazil in South America later)

What are the causes of tropical deforestation?

CAUSES OF TROPICAL DEFORESTATION

Clearing of rural lands to accommodate meat production and export

Population explosion: forests are cut to provide crop-raising space and firewood

Rapid logging of tropical woodlands to meet global demands for new housing, paper, and furniture

Costa Rica, pg 231.

TOURISM: A MIXED BLESSING?

Advantages Presents state and regional economic options A clean industry

Disadvantages Disjunctive development Degrades fragile environmental resources Inauthentic representations of native cultures