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Latin America no longer is America's back yard. It never should have been in the first place. Washington took full advantage. Millions deplore it for that reason. They won't tolerate going back.
Western transnational companies pillaged the hemisphere for profit. They don't stop trying. Doing so meets stiff resistance. Chavez inspired challengers. His legacy reflects success. Much more needs to be done.
Neoliberalism hasn't gone away. From 1980 through 1999, policies included privatized state enterprises. Many were sold for a fraction of their real worth. Mass layoffs followed.
So did deregulation, social spending cuts, wage freezes or cuts, unrestricted market access for Western companies, corporate-friendly tax cuts, extra burdens on working households, trade unionism attacked and marginalized, as well repression targeting non-believers.
Strip-mining material wealth from nations was policy. Per capita income growth was 11%. From 1960 - 1979, it was 80%.
Resistance movements arose. Harsh repression followed. Venezuela was the "prime example of the failures of neoliberalism, resistance and repression."
"By the early 21st century, no clear answers had emerged"." Voters demanded something better.
Of the centrist/left of center leaders elected, "only one," Hugo Chavez, declared "an explicitly anti-capitalist and pro-socialist agenda."
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