Left-wing, nationalist movements in Latin America

Multiple concepts will be covered in the course of this article. Some of the ideas will center on the left-wing nationalist movement in Latin America, the reasons why these movements emerged as powerful political forces, and finally, the challenges they encountered in their interactions with the United States of America. The data presented will be based on Dorfman's book "Heading south, looking north: A bilingual voyage" as well as other materials from pertinent lectures and other sources.
The term "left wing" designates a radicalized faction that has an impact on a given government's political party and system. The nationalist movement was headed by Hernan Siles Zuazo who was a former vice president of the group in 1951. The main reason why this group existed was to provide social equality, self-determination, and popular sovereignty. One of the leaders of this movement in Latin America was Simon Bolivar. He was also known as the liberator. This movement rose up to defy the government in Spain.
The movement began in 1810, and it took a period of 12 years. In the process of liberating people, the movement formed smaller independent groups so as to solve the issues they were facing at that particular time. With the efforts that the movement made, the people's problems continued because the people remained poor as the wealthy families controlled the independent country. In Latin America, the movement spread all over Spain with the aim of controlling the government. Through the colonies, the people were able to produce casual goods such as textile, coffee, minerals, and wine.
The biggest problem that affected the people was the aspect of them producing the goods and not having a ready market to be able to conduct trade. The other problem was that the Spanish colonies were not allowed to trade with other colonies except those who belonged to Spain. One of the people who was significantly affected by this system was Simon Bolivar. He belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Spain. He was among the pioneers of the nationalist movement.
Factors that explain why the movement became an important political force
There are different reasons as to why the left- wing nationalist movement became an important political force in Latin America. The movement was well managed by wealthy families who were controlling the Spanish government. The wealthy families were responsible for employing slaves of the country. This aspect brought control of the ordinary people who would work for them. The movement sought equality in the treatment of the slaves by providing equal rights to them (Dorfman, 1998).
The main reason why the movement advocated for the slave's rights was to look for a way of getting support from other people to gain popularity in the country. The other reason why they fought for their slave's rights was to defy the Spanish rule that oppressed most slaves who underwent mistreatments from their masters. Having gained popularity from the people, they were able to use the slavery platform to make changes in the political arena.
The left wing nationalist movement controlled the oil reserves found in the country. Oil is a huge revenue earner to any nation. It can be the reason why people kill because it is a great source of income to any country. The movement was the largest oil products controller; thus it became the largest OPEC oil producer. This movement was able to control the prices of oil; this means that it could control the revenue the government earned. With this aspect in mind, the group was able to gain familiarity and popularity within the country; therefore, it became a significant political force in the country. Although the radical group was making profits, the profits could not reach the poor people. The only individuals who benefited from the profits were the wealthy families who controlled the money (Dorfman, 1998).

The difficulties the movements have faced
It is common to expect that an upcoming movement or any revolting group to have challenges and problems that will stall their growth and progress. The left wing movement also faced its difficulties in the process of wanting to provide equality to people. One of the main challenges the movement faced was dictatorship from the government. The government did not support some of the grievances that sprang up from this revolutionary movement.
The government, according to Ariel, ensured that every step the movement made was stopped and the people supporting the regime punished. Mass beatings of individuals and torture was another challenge the movement experienced. This type of treatment was administered to those who belonged to the left -wing nationalist movement. Women and children were the ones who were mostly affected. The women were raped at some instances, and this made them undergo traumatic experiences. This inhuman act led to mass protests on the streets, but this did not solve anything (Dorfman, 1998).
The death of followers was recorded as one of the worst problems the movement experienced. The revolution members who were found to go against the government were tortured and assassinated in compromising situations. This form of torture brought fear among the riot members and led to some people running away for their safety. Victims of the revolution were abducted in broad daylight and tortured to death. This form of action was to act as an example to other revolution members so that they break out of the movement allegiance (Dorfman, 1998).
Conclusion
Conclusively, the left -wing nationalist movement underwent different circumstances with the protesting government until it attained its goals. Besides the fact that the movement was mistreated, it was defiant and managed to create a significant change in the society. This act made the movement to be regarded as a political force that wanted change. With the daily increase in the number of peasants, the group grew too large numbers to the point it became a threat to the government. Their threatening masses led to the government assassinating people and torturing them.
The emergence of the left- wing nationalist movement brought a tremendous effect on the economy of Latin America. The movement was able to control the economy partially in the way that they fought for the rights of slaves in the country. They also looked for ways of promoting equality among people although it is only the rich and wealthy families that benefited from the business. The brutal killings that were executed against the members of the movement were the reason why the group became smaller in number and less powerful. The fact that the remaining number of people continued to fight for the movement's existed made the movement get remembered.














Work Cited
Dorfman, A. (1998). Heading south, looking north: A bilingual journey. New York, NY: Macmillan.