Chapter 13 Self-assessment

. All of the following were key tenets of the "Washington Consensus" EXCEPT

Electoral democracy

Capitalism

Free markets

Joining NATO or a similar military alliance with the United States

. Since the early 1990s, Latin America as a whole has been comparably less violent than post-Cold War hot spots like the Balkans, the Middle East, and parts of Africa.

True.

False.

. While The United States supported Britain in the Falklands/Malvinas war, Argentina had the support of its fellow dictatorships in neighboring Brazil and Chile.

True

False

. All of the following constituted key sources of mobilization against the Brazilian dictatorship EXCEPT

Industrial workers in São Paulo.

Liberation theology-influenced Catholics.

Residents of the unauthorized urban settlements known as favelas.

Commercial farmers and cattle ranchers in the interior.

. Which of the following statements about Chile's economy since the return to democracy is FALSE?

Both the Concertación and the Alianza have agreed that Chile is to remain a free-market capitalist society fully open to free trade and foreign investment.

Chile has experienced some of the highest growth rates in Latin America and has significantly reduced poverty.

Both coalitions have conformed to the neoliberal model by cutting the state's spending on public health and pensions.

The democratic governments' education policies have been the greatest source of protest.

. Chile had atypical political, economic, and social circumstances that make it a problematic model for neoliberal economics for other Latin American countries to follow.

True

False

. A "bait-and-switch populist" was one who

Campaigned promising to uphold democracy but then ruled in an authoritarian manner.

Diverted government spending away from the military and toward the poor once firmly established in office and no longer vulnerable to a coup.

Campaigned promising to maintain or increase social spending, but then imposed austerity measures once in office.

Used fraudulent accounting and reporting practices to conceal the origins and amounts of government debt and spending.

. Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil appeared to provide an example of successfully combining privatization and inflation-busting monetary policy with innovative and effective social spending programs.

True.

False.

. The complicity of the Argentine and Chilean Catholic Church authorities with the abuses of the military dictatorships greatly weakened their moral authority and influence over questions like divorce laws in both countries.

True

False

. Carlos Salinas's economic reforms in Mexico included all of the following EXCEPT

Privatizing Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly.

Negotiating a free-trade agreement with the United States.

Cutting subsidies that had benefited the poor.

Undoing the Revolution's land-reform legacy by privatizing ejidos (collectively-owned agricultural lands overseen by the state).

. Which of the following statements about the Zapatista movement in southern Mexico is FALSE?

It was started by Marxist mestizo intellectuals from urban Mexico.

It represented a renewed push for the rights of indigenous people within the Mexican nation-state.

It represented an early critique of the Mexican's government's embrace of neoliberalism.

It was among the more violent of Latin America's late- and post-Cold War insurgencies.

. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

Coca leaves had been used for ceremonial purposes in the Andes in pre-colonial times.

Coca leaves were used as a stimulant and appetite-suppressant by indigenous mine and farm workers during the colonial period and beyond.

Starting in the 1970s coca was generally grown on large, commercial plantations in the remote eastern Andes employing dozens of wage laborers.

Ecological and logistical factors make coca a profitable crop in Andean regions where other crops are less viable and profitable.

. The success of Plan Colombia and the joint US-Colombian government war on the cartels helped to divert drug smuggling and violence from Colombia to Mexico.

True.

False.

. Which of the following statements about Latin American cities' "informal" neighborhoods is FALSE?

Residents generally lack formal legal titles to their homes or to the land they are built on.

They are marked by crowding and high population density.

They tend to lack access to official municipal services for education, healthcare, water and sanitation.

Local politicians and landlords see no profit from dealing with these communities' residents.

. Which of the following statements about Venezuela's economy in the 1970s is FALSE?

The country had the highest GDP in Latin America.

Successive governments spent generously on subsidies for food, housing, healthcare, fuel, and transportation.

Poverty actually increased in the 1970s despite high oil prices.

Both the AD and COPEI governments expanded the size of the state workforce.

. All of the following statements about Hugo Chávez are true EXCEPT

He came to power as the leader of a coup against the elected but unpopular government of Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992.

He promised to end the duopoly of power that the AD and COPEI parties had exercised for some forty years.

He promised to end corruption and poverty in Venezuela.

He promised to convene a constituent assembly to re-found Venezuela's political system.

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