South American Migration: Exodus to and from the Continent

1
South American Migration Exodus to and from the
Continent

• Lecture 4
• Part II

2
Article

• - Japanese emigration to Brazil

3
Outline

• Causes of Migration
• South America
• Mexico
• Caribbean
• Central America

4
Why Do People Migrate?

• Economic factors
• Cultural factors
• Political factors
• Environmental factors

5
Characteristics of Migrants

• Most long-distance migrants are male (in the
  beginning stages) Guatemalans in D.C.
• Most long-distance migrants are adult individuals
  (working age) rather than families with children.
• However, since the 1990s, Mexican women account
  for half of the illegal migration to the United
  States

6
1800s Migration

• Migration conditions in Latin America
• 1) Failed attempts at political unions.
• 2) Favorable political and social conditions.
• 3) Expanding economic markets (i.e. goods and
  minerals).
• 4) Slow population growth.

7
1800s Migration

• Characteristics of immigrants
• Strong (mostly males).
• Know-how- in agriculture technology and capital.
• White immigrants.
• European immigrants.

8
1800s Migration

• Who migrated and where did they arrive?
• Brazil attracted the largest number of immigrants
  including Swiss.
• Uruguay experienced the greatest impact from
  French (60) and Spanish (25) immigrants.
• Argentina received the Irish, Swiss, and Germans
  to work in rural areas.
• Chile hosted Germans.
• Peru granted any land to foreigners who came to
  settle but only attracted a small number of
  Irish, Italian, and German immigrants.
• Nicaragua and Venezuela both granted access to
  Germans.
• Cuba, Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico persuaded
  Chinese laborers to work in slave-like conditions
  by doing work such as cutting cane, laying
  railway tracks, or harvesting coffee.

9
1800s Migration (Failure)

• Migration to L.A. during the 1800s was a total
  failure because?
• Harsh labor conditions
• Cheap wages
• Not enough immigrants arrived
• Immigrants arrived to the rural areas
• Immigrants did not assimilate
• Better opportunities in USA
• Natural barriers (Environment)
• Developing economies

10
1880-1930 Migration (Govt Involvement)

• TO GOVERN IS TO POPULATE
• What was the role of the government?
• Argentina wrote in their constitution The
  federal government will encourage immigration.
• In Mexico the president tried to attract European
  settlers in sparsely regions such as Chiapas but
  was not successful and had to settle for Mexican
  migrants.
• The following countries passed laws to encourage
  migration
• Peru (1889), Venezuela (1894), Costa Rica
  (1896), Paraguay (1903), Bolivia (1905), Honduras
  (1906), and Guatemala (1909).

11
1880-1930 Migration

• Migration conditions Worldwide
• 1) Population pressure in Europe resulting
  from high birth and low death.
• Industrial countries could no longer absorb the
  surplus population.
• Thousands of unemployed farmers in Europe.
• Better economic opportunities in Latin America.
• More developed areas in Latin America.
• Labor shortage in Latin America.
• WWI
• Great Depression

12
1880-1930 Migration

• How many arrived and where?
• Argentina (1881-1935) The 3,400,000 immigrants
  who arrived helped settle the countryside and
  expand the cities.
• Uruguay (1881-1935) 638,330 Europeans migrated
  to urban centers. Half of the population of
  Montevideo was foreign!!
• Chile (1908-1914) Some ten thousand immigrants
  arrived annually and were highly skilled workers.
• Brazil (1872-1940) Of the 3,300,000 Europeans
  who emigrated, ¾ settled in Sao Paulo and the
  rest to Rio.

13
1880-1930 Migration

• Who arrived?
• Italians were the largest immigrant group to
  Argentina until WWI.
• The Italians prohibited emigration from Italy
  (1911-1912).
• The Argentina government responded by attracting
  Spaniards.
• The third largest European group of immigrants
  were from France. After the failure of the Paris
  commune and the agrarian depression (1870-1880).
• one our of eight of all migrants arriving to
  Argentina were French.

14
1880-1930 Migration

• Who arrived to Latin America?
• In Brazil (1819-1959) Portuguese (31), Italy
  (29.1), Spain (12.5), German (4.6), Japan
  (4.0), Russians (2.3) and Others (16.4).
• 85 of the German immigrants concentrated in the
  southern states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa
  Catarina, and Parana.
• Japanese did not arrive until 1908 and they
  constitute the largest Japanese population
  outside of Japan.

15
1930-1950 Migration (Passive)

• After WWII the population in Europe began to
  decline.
• Therefore, there were no massive migration waves
  like the one experienced prior to 1930.
• However, in Venezuela in the 1950s, oil prices
  helped industrialize the country and created a
  demand for labor.
• In one decade more than 335,000 foreigners were
  added to the population with 70 coming from
  Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

16
1950-1970 Migration (Mixed)

• Rural to rural migration within South America
• Rural to urban migration within South America
• International migration from South America to
  North America

17
1950-1970 Migration

• Early cross-border migration in South America was
  mostly rural to rural due to the agriculture
  economy.
• A migration shift occurred in the 1950s which
  changed to a rural-urban migration.
• Venezuela experienced a second migration in the
  1970s financed by the oil boom.
• Nearly half of the immigrants that arrived came
  from Colombia.

18
1950-1970 Migration

• In the 1960s and 1970s immigrants migrated to
  urban destinations such as Caracas and other
  cities.
• Another force in the Venezuela immigration was
  the military dictatorship throughout the Southern
  Cone.
• The 1970 migration wave helped transform the
  composition of foreign-born population from
  European to Latin American.
• By 1980, oil prices collapsed and so did the
  migration.

19
1950-1970 Migration

• The migration to Argentina came from four
  countries Chile (33), Uruguay (19), Paraguay
  (15), and Bolivia (14). (Most illegal migrants)
• In 1974 and 1984 it was offered to amnesties.
• Emigrants from Paraguay, Bolivia, and Chile were
  rural in both origin and destination. This
  pattern changed to urban.
• Uruguay emigration has been urban in both origin
  and destination and has included skilled labor.

20
1970-1990 Migration (Elsewhere)

• What were the conditions for the emigration from
  South America to Industrialized countries?
• Failure of Import-Substitution industrialization
  and the restructure of economic models
• Debt crisis in 1982
• Political violence and oppression
• Social conflict
• Higher waves and better opportunities

21
1970-1990 Migration

• Who emigrated?
• Skilled laborers from Chile migrated to
  Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, USA, Europe, and
  Australia.
• Uruguay emigration increased after the 1973
  military government came to power.
• Uruguayans of Italian and Spanish descent
  returned to Europe to claim their citizenship.
• From 1963-1985 12 of the Uruguay population left
  the country!!!!!!!!!!!
• Brazilians emigrated to the USA, Canada, Italy,
  Portugal and Japan.
• Brazilian, Peruvian, Argentinean, Bolivian, and
  Paraguay Japanese migrated back to Japan. In
  most cases between 10-20 percent of the Japanese
  population emigrated.

22
Overview

• From 1800 to 1970, 13.8 million immigrants
  entered Latin America with ¾ settling in Brazil
  or Argentina.
• Nearly 60 came from Southern Europe, 15 from
  elsewhere in Europe, and 11 came from Asia.
• Migration played a key role in the development of
  cities such as Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, and
  Montevideo.
• Immigrants and their children ultimately came to
  dominate all classes in the large metropolitan
  areas and played a key role in the social
  transformation of their respective societies.

23
Overview

• Legacy of European impact in Latin America
  formation.
• Specific migration from a particular country to a
  particular place (Chain Migration).
• Cause and effect is present in each migration
  wave and settlement pattern.