Current development patterns in Latin America with special reference to agrarian policy

INDUSTRIALIZATION AND ATTENDANT FORCES OF MODERNIZATION HAVE CHANGED LATIN AMERICA IN THE PAST 25 YEARS. THERE IS LITTLE UPWARD MOBILITY IN THE SOCIAL SYSTEM, AND BECAUSE OF THE HIGH RATE OF POPULATION GROWTH SINCE WORLD WAR II, THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE POOR AND ILLITERATE IN LATIN AMERICA NOW THAN AT MID-CENTURY. THERE ARE AN INCREASED NUMBER OF STRONG-MAN REGIMES, MOST OF THEM RIGHTIST MILITARY, AND THEIR DURABILITY SEEMS TO BE INCREASING. WHILE THE U.S. IS STILL THE DOMINANT FOREIGN ECONOMIC POWER IN LATIN AMERICA, SOME STRONGER LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES ARE ASSUMING THAT ROLE BY ENCROACHING ON THEIR POORER NEIGHBORS. UNEMPLOYMENT SEEMS TO BE A CONTINUING PROBLEM. AS FOR INCOME DISTRIBUTION, THE BOTTOM 60 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION IS RELATIVELY WORSE OFF THAN TWO DECADES AGO. THE LAND TENURE SYSTEM OF LATIN AMERICA IS STILL CHARACTERIZED BY THE EXISTENCE OF LATIFUNDIA AND MINIFUNDIA -- THE COEXISTENCE OF VERY LARGE LANDHOLDINGS, USUALLY EXTENSIVELY FARMED, AND A LARGE NUMBER OF VERY SMALL HOLDINGS, USUALLY LOCATED IN MARGINAL AREAS. LITTLE REFORM HAS OCCURED BECAUSE THE POWER STRUCTURES IN MOST COUNTRIES OF THE REGION HAVE CHANGED LITTLE.