Culture of South American Essay
What were native populations’ greatest vulnerabilities?
The native population of America was vulnerable to European conquest because of a number of key factors. In this regard, it is important to distinguish basic factors, such as technological, military and economic backwardness. Native Americans could not resist to European colonization because of their disorganization and poor development of the military power and technologies. At the same time, Europeans, especially Spaniards developed colonization fast through the fast invasion and development of their settlement in new territories. In addition, they gained the support of local governments or established their own to maintain control over vast territory, which they colonized. European settlements became the major driving force of the colonization. In such a situation, Native Americans could resist to European colonization through uniting their efforts and forming alliances against Europeans. Moreover, they should destroy the infrastructure and transportation system to undermine the supply of European colonies in America. In such a way, they could resist to European colonization effectively.
Q2. Galeano’s critique of the IMF and World Bank.
Galeano develops an argumentative critique of the IMF and World Bank. Galeano views the IMF and World Bank as the tools of the international market expansion conducted by the US. In fact, the author stands on the ground that the US use the IMF and World Bank to export their capital and make other countries, such as Latin American ones, dependent on the US dollar. In actuality, the US uses the capitalization and export capital to other countries via the IMF and World Bank. In stark contrast, developing countries borrowing money from the IMF and World Bank, tend to decapitalization for they have to return loans obtained via the IMF and World Bank. As a result, the capital return to the US and, what is more important, the capital returns with interests that allow the US capitalist to earn over and over again using the IMF and World Bank.
Q3. Different ways of telling the story of Colonization.
Views on the story of Colonization may differ consistently but the result of the colonization is the same and it is obvious that the views differ because of the different perspectives on the process of colonization. For instance, from the Native American perspective, the colonization could be viewed as the process of the rapid European invasion and extinction of Native Americans. From the standpoint of Latin American, the Colonization was the process of the struggle of European leading powers for the control over the New World. From the US perspective, the Colonization was the process of the exploration of America and steady colonization. In such a way, the process of colonization may be viewed from different perspectives but still the general trend in the process of colonization can be traced clearly – European colonized New World and exploited the local population and natural resources for their own benefits.
Q4. U.S. vs. Latin America’s Colonization.
At the same time, specialists distinguish the US and Latin America’s colonization. To put it more precisely, Latin America’s invasion was faster compared to the US, especially from the part of Spaniards, who penetrated into new lands fast, settled there and established their colonies. In this regard, the development of colonies in the US was steady and Europeans expanded their territory westward without fast expansion.
