GO rD hIll 500 Years of Indigenous resistance
South and Central Amer-
ica were to be brought firmly
under U.S. control, a process
begun during the early 1900s
as the U.S. moved to replace
Britain as the dominant im-
perialist nation in the region,
even paying off debts owed
to Britain. As part of the U.S.
post-War plans, South and
Central America would also
receive billions of dollars in
direct financial aid from the
U.S. and from private trans-
national banks. This aid al-
lowed the “underdeveloped” countries to industrialize by importing
modern technology from the U.S. (in fact, as part of U.S. financial aid,
the loans had to be spent in the U.S.). The enormous debts incurred in
this process guaranteed dependence and opened up these countries to
multinational corporations. As well, international organizations such
as the World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Devel-
opment, and the Agency for International Development (AID) were
formed to provide multilateral funding aimed largely at the agro-export
sectors, resource extraction, hydro-electric projects and infrastructure
(roads, communications, etc.) necessary for the development of those
industries. Linked to this “aid” scheme is the International Monetary
Fund, which doesn’t fund specific projects but instead steps in with bal-
ance of payments support when a country is unable to pay its debts.
These projects and the overall industrialization opened up areas for
further exploitation; penetration of areas such as the Amazon and large-
scale expropriations accelerated in the 1960s, further devastating Indig-
enous peoples and leading to renewed campaigns of extermination.
Of course, all this economic restructuring did not occur without
growing resistance. With growing movements against imperialism, in-
cluding peasant unions, students, workers, guerrillas and Indians, a sub-
stantial part of the “aid” included military training, weapons, and equip-