States Militar y Intervention in Latin America from the
Spanish-American War to the Invasion of Panama.
New York: Macmillan, 1990. The last two chapters
detail military operations in the invasions of Gre-
nada and Panama.
Winn, Peter.Americas: The Changing Face of Latin
America and the Caribbean.New York: Pantheon,
- Describes the political, artistic, and reli-
gious evolution of Latin America.
Timothy Frazer
See also Bush, George H. W.; Cold War; Congress,
U.S.; Elections in the United States, 1980; Foreign
policy of the United States; Grenada invasion; Iran-
Contra affair; Mariel boatlift; Mexico and the
United States; Miami Riot of 1980; North, Oliver;
Panama invasion; Poindexter, John; Reagan, Ron-
ald; Reagan Doctrine; Weinberger, Caspar.
Latinos
Definition Americans originating from Spanish-
speaking countries
Immigration from Latin America to the United States in-
creased greatly in the 1980’s. The economic and cultural
impact of Latino immigrants led the U.S. media to dub the
1980’s “The Decade of the Hispanic.”
The term “Latin American” was coined by the French
to indicate Catholic colonies that spoke romance
languages, in an effort to unite them against the
Protestant colonies of England. However, the term
came to indicate only the Spanish- and Portuguese-
speaking countries of Central and South America.
The term “Latino” is used to denote those who speak
Spanish. Within the United States, “Latino” has come
to be nearly synonymous with “Hispanic,” a term in-
vented by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 1970’s to
group Spanish-speaking people.
In common usage, the distinction between the
terms is ambiguous. Some people use “Hispanic” to
indicate Spanish ancestry, while “Latino” indicates a
commonality of the Spanish language among peo-
ple whose ethnic origins are African, Native Ameri-
can, or from other parts of Europe. Sometimes,
within the Latin American community, “Latino” is
used to represent those of higher socioeconomic or
educational status, while “Hispanic” distinguishes
those who are more economically disadvantaged.
Immigrants from countries that were Portuguese,
Dutch, French, or English colonies in Latin America
are sometimes not counted as “Latinos” in the United
States. For all intents and purposes, however, the
terms are interchangeable.The Decade of the Hispanic In the 1960’s, Latinos
began to overtake Europeans at the major group im-
migrating to the United States as a result of liberal-
ized immigration laws. By the 1980’s, immigration to
the United States had reached its highest levels since
the 1920’s, although the numbers were coming from
Latin America and Asia, not Europe.
The U.S. economy had a demand for cheap labor,
while many developing countries were suffering
from economic depressions and political upheavals.
Compared to their predecessors in the early twenti-
eth century, the new immigrants were younger and
less educated. Where families had previously immi-
grated together, most of the Latino immigrants in
the 1980’s were young, single men. Also, large num-
bers of immigrants came into the United States ille-
gally, raising concerns about national security.
Among the Latin Americans legally in residence
in the United States at the time of 2000 census,
nearly 30 percent arrived between 1980 and 1989;
only 24 percent of those who arrived in those years
had become naturalized citizens. This figure does
not take into account undocumented immigrants.
Latino immigrants came from South America
and the Caribbean, although the largest group came
from Mexico. Mexicans constituted the largest group
of Latino immigrants. It is estimated that, in 1982,
nearly three-quarters of the Mexican population
were unemployed or underemployed. Malnutrition
and infant mortality hit their highest levels in Mex-
ico since the Great Depression.
In 1980 and 1984, Fidel Castro gave Cubans per-
mission to emigrate to the United States, a move he
had previously made in 1965. Fleeing a communist
government, Cuban immigrants tended to be more
affluent and entrepreneurial, giving them an advan-
tage in American society. Immigrants from other
parts of the Caribbean and from Central America
fled the violence and economic strife resulting from
civil wars in their homelands, particularly Nicara-
gua, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
The waves of refugees coming from these various
countries followed similar patterns. First, when a rev-
olution occurred, members of the fallen govern-The Eighties in America Latinos 575