Dependent Capitalism and Governability in Latin America: The Military Government Heritage

Latin-American industrialization is following the pattern predominant in the advanced capitalist countries during the twenty years following WWII: emphasis on durable consumer goods & metal & chemical industry, & the utilization of petroleum as the principal energy source. The lag behind the industrialized countries may be due to the exhaustion of accumulation patterns based on import substitution & additional problems linked to the internationalization of the world economy. The emergence of military regimes in Argentina & Brazil from the 1960s to the 1980s & the permanent hegemony exercised by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional in Mexico are examined in light of their effect on capitalist economic development. In Chile & Argentina, continuous crises of governability led to military regimes with a neoliberal economic outlook. Democraticization during the 1980s occurred under difficult economic circumstances & falling living standards. Although the military regimes favored the internationalization of the national economies, they did not necessarily follow policies leading to growth. 6 Tables, 16 References. M. Meeks