Reddit reviews Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot
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Used Book in Good Condition
I am not very knowledgeable about Argentina but as a Venezuelan that's currently researching my country's history in depth, in particular economic history, I may be able to answer about it.
To understand Venezuela, you must understand its oil industry. By the turn of the 20th century, Venezuela was politically unstable and heavily indebted. A civil war and skirmishes with local caudillos made the country a hot mess to rule over, and political and economical growth was going slowly.
Enter Juan Vicente Gomez. Second-in-command for President Cipriano Castro, he seized power from him in 1908 as the latter went abroad for surgery. And until his death in 1935, he oversaw the change from a crop-based economy to an oil-exporting one, and it would remain as such till today. He was the first one to direct the oil revenues to modernization and infrastructure development, while taking a large cut for himself and his cronies. The concession-based model for mining and oil extraction that would last until the 1970s, along with minuscule taxation, allowed the foreign companies to take abroad most of the profits from the oil.
Although the Natives and Spaniards knew about the presence of oil beneath the surface thanks to oil seeps, industrial drilling did not take place until the 1910s, due to an increased demand from industrialization and the advent of the internal combustion engine. And in 1922, the oil well Barroso II blew out, spewing a hundred thousand barrels of oil per day for nine days into the air, which was a wonderful PR move by the oil to announce its bountiful presence, and a beacon for foreign companies (i.e. Shell, Esso, British Petroleum) to start large-scale drilling and, soon, refining. In less than a decade, Venezuela would become the third largest oil producer, and largest exporter, in the world.
As mentioned before, the State did not really partake on this bonanza, making most of its income by selling concessions to drill. Political pressures towards democracy and a fair share of the revenues had to wait until Gomez's death in 1935. The country began a slow transition towards democracy and in 1943, it was codified into Law that the State would receive half of the profits from the oil industry. An even bigger share meant larger projects, and with the advent of the first truly democratic government of Romulo Gallegos in 1948, the country was already planning or working on massive public projects: Caracas' University City, housing and government offices, industrial development, bridges...
Around this time, a military government by Marcos Perez Jimenez took hold, ruling between 1952-1958. Oil revenue was essentially unchanged, but modernization and development became a matter of prestige and national security. Also around this time, there was a serious discussion on what to do with the oil revenue. Ultimately the "Sowing the Oil" concept, developed by Arturo Uslar Pietri, dominated. That means that the best way to invest the oil revenue was to invest in the people and the country; via the aforementioned massive public projects but also funding public education, healthcare, and culture, as well as working to export refined goods and not crude oil, and invest on other industries (most notably steel).
By 1961, with democracy properly restored, the country was prosperous.
A few years before, the Venezuelan Bolivar was the highest valued currency in the world.^^1 A welfare state was in place, ensuring the oil revenues were distributed among the people. Politically, a two-party system took hold, which did not allow for much change. And collusion between the parties, as well as the ridiculous amount of state revenue, allowed corruption and inefficiency to flourish. But as long as the oil kept flowing, this could be maintained, and the people were happy.In 1976, oil was fully nationalized, and PDVSA, the State's oil company, began operations. Venezuela was known at this time as the "Saudi Venezuela", with a high quality of life and an enviable position in Latin America. But shortly thereafter, in the 1980s oil glut, coupled with mismanagement, inefficiency, and corruption, as well as a political desire to keep the welfare state in place, led to bad fiscal and economic policies such as devaluing and fixing an exchange price for the Bolivar and ballooning public debt. The system was unsustainable, and the situation worsened until the nation required a bailout from the IMF. This proved wildly unpopular, and led to massive protests, two coup attempts and an impeachment and, ultimately, inflation and worsening economic conditions that led to the rise of Hugo Chavez in 1998.
This basically covers 20th century Venezuela. I highly recommend watching the three-part El Reventon documentary about the Venezuelan oil history, if you can find it in English. For a more general Latin American woes, including Argentina, Open Veins of Latin America is great for history, but... iffy on economic theory. For a more economic view, Guide for the Perfect Latin American Idiot is a direct counter for the economic theory on that book, and I believe the two ought to be read together.
Brazil: The latin american idiot that think anti-america, anti-europe, vote for populist politicians, and propagate a dirt-dumb form of socialism. Usually you see them wearing a t-shirt with che's picture on it.