Michael Reid (1) (1952–)

Honestly, I could not wait to finish this book. I did finish though, and it wasn’t the book’s fault. I repeatedly reassured the book, “It’s not you book, it’s me. I just don’t know enough.”

I found the political history of Latin American countries fascinating, mind-numbing and confusing all at the same time. There are so many countries, areas within countries, and political organizations that I quickly became distracted. Then as I moved onto the more recent political and economic history, I knew I was in over my head. What little I could grasp, hold onto, and digest was impactful, but I can’t be entirely sure how clear my understanding actually is. Despite all of this, I did learn a great deal.

The information on the Brazilian people was especially eye-opening for me as it explained many things that I found intriguing when I spent a week in São Paulo (i.e., racial diversity, stronger nationalistic rather than racial ties, dramatic economic disparity). Reid impressed upon the reader his stance that not everything unfortunate that happened in Latin America is the fault of the United States, only some of it. Most of it is due to individual countries’ own lack of planning, economic understanding, geography, social underpinnings, and dependency on militaristic regimes. Not all countries are created nor administrated equally; while they may not get much press coverage in the States, there are many progressive things happening south of the border.… (mere)