Neoliberalism and its discontents in Latin America

This system functions in such a way that favors the market more than the state saying that government should adhere to the rules of the private sector instead of the private secure adhering to the rules of government. Neoliberalism in Latin America was preceded by a type of liberalism where the people believed that they were free to live their lives without the government having a great deal of interference in it. However, the type of liberalism that is present in Latin America today does not benefit the common man but the interests of large corporations. We can see this in Latin America where neoliberals will use the language of the free market, a variety of choice but this has led to the deconstruction of certain societies where national institutions are denationalization so that they are modeled in the liking and favor of large corporations.

The free market policies that are promoted in the name of to giving people a fair chance in the marketplace now favor global corporations and business interests infiltrate public interests as seen in Latin America. The Hispanic liberalism was radically egalitarian, and they rejected the option of monarchy, and it was synonymous with a republican government, this means that they were committed to legal equality, better representation in government and slavery was abolished in the newly formed countries. The Brazilian liberalism was the least radical as it did not reject monarchies but emphasized on representation through the monarchy (Rivera, chapter 2). Liberalism compared to neo-liberalism in Latin America It is important to see the kind of liberalism that was there in Latin America in the 19th century and see how it compares to the kind of liberalism we have today, ‘neo-liberalism’.

First, while classical liberalism focused on the limitations of elites such as in Brazil or their complete annihilation as seen in Hispanic America, neo-liberalism focuses on the creation of elites and offers them protection. Neo-liberalism advances the ideology of the market. This creates a very high state of inequality in geographical areas that practice inequality due to the low paid workers and rich corporations. The education system is an example. The diminishing of teacher’s movements as they are not widely present in private institutions leads to low wages for teachers in general as their rights cannot be well fought for without such institutions. In the 19th century neo-liberalism, we see concepts such as the sovereignty of the people and the states that gained independence from their colonial masters celebrated.

Other concepts such as social justice, development and democracy are also celebrated. This loss of sovereignty is not only in Chile but also in a majority of Latin America countries. It seems as if the government’s efforts to win national independence and economic development goals have abounded. These are goals that they pursued after liberation from the Spanish empire and in the past decades. Never before have governments in the Americas, excluding Northern North American dictated by financial institutions such as the International Monetary Funds, the U. S. The middle class becomes smaller and smaller as the rich get richer. The lack of a robust middle class usually threatens a functioning democracy because the poor are easy to exploit. The social ramifications are also present as trafficking of people and drugs is more rampant.