uThis week’s readings were focused on the economic and industrial growth of Latin America after independence. Starting with a “Boom” I felt like everything was going so fast in Latin American countries, railways constructions, electricity, transportation ways, newspapers, photographs, women’s rights; all important, all suddenly happening in this land space that was not long ago the land of the indigenous people. While I was reading I felt as if Latin America had this huge urge for modernization and growth. I couldn’t stop thinking about the indigenous people, the slaves, and the low-income elites, and how they struggled in the mean time.

Order and progress. We have been pursuing this two goals for more than a century, I still think we haven’t completely reach them. There cannot be order if there is injustice and neglection, there cannot be progress if there is corruption and lack of education. Stability at a national level was hand in hand with the intervention of the state in small communities and the goal of modernization. Stability that was tried to achieved was one in which international investors saw the country as a potential investment. Of course all the foreign investments were beneficial for the country in the sense that they helped the development of the nations. It was inevitable that a strong dependance of foreign investmenst was developed in the Latin American countries. I think it was a dependance that still today has been difficult to overcome.

It is very importatn to recognize the impact of technology in this “Boom”. Industries  in Latin America lacked the capital, expertize and techonologies to produce goods for the international market, hence they produced for a small domestic market. This type of economy had export growth as its only viable way for profit growth. I wondered why nowadays we have not had a sufficiently big growth in order for out countries to start producing goods for the international market, very little has changed, and Latin American economy is still based on the exportation of natural resources. I am pretty sure it is because Latin America has encounter so many internal conflicts that havent had a complete resolution, and all of them add to the difficulties to move to modernism and improvement.  I am not even close to fully understand economics, but I really want to know if there is system that could fit into nowadays Latin American economy that would be benefficial for more than just a few.

Something that really hooked my attention was the title of “Porfirio Díaz, Hero of the Americas” since I have heard a lot of stories of disonfort and even disgust about the Porfiriato time. It was really interesting to read a different perception of Porfirio Díaz. The text was some sort of conversation with Díaz, and it was centred on the politics and democratic ideas of Porfirio Días. it was really interesting how he even mentions that he has nearly no opposition. I really look forward to discuss this text with the class and see if we can get annother perspective of this political leader.