Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

the socialist utopia 239
figure 14.2 The sign says, “We want you to be like Che—Fidel.” Santa Clara,
Cuba, 2004. Photograph by Scott McPherson
Socialism, which is closely linked to Communism, purports to defend the
little guys, the poor workers who have nothing to offer but their labor power,
who toil day after day for the rich owners and still barely make enough to
survive. Regardless of the horrendous things done in the name of socialism
(e.g., by Stalin and Pol Pot), at its most basic level the ideal is that everyone
has a right to enjoy the products of society’s collective labor. Perhaps it is
not surprising that Latin America would witness a sweeping wave of support
for socialism. Historically, its societies have been marked by extreme
maldistributions of wealth, and its governments have traditionally defended
the haves against the have-nots.
Socialism’s heyday in Latin America began with the Cuban Revolution
in 1959 and ended more or less with the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1989. During that era, almost every government in Latin America was challenged
by the political left, either in the form of a guerrilla army, a political
party, or some combination of the two. Even if the success of these movements
was marginal (fewer than half a dozen rose to national power, and
most of them only briefl y), socialism nevertheless inspired the hopes of
millions.
Socialism in Latin America gained currency in the wake of the failure of
nationalist populism in the fi rst half of the twentieth century. Populist heroes
like Juan and Eva Perón in Argentina (1946–1955; 1973–1974), Getúlio