Political+Orginization+in+Central+and+South+America

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• **•__Government__•** __ ** •South America ** __ In the 1960's most countries in South America were being ruled by military dictatorships, in which the military has the supreme power. However in the 1980's, revolutionary movements spread throughout the country. Today, they are all republics with written constitutions. Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil have federal systems while the other countries ( Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, the Falkland Islands and Columbia) have centralized systems. French Guinea is a territory of France as well as the Falkland Islands are a territory of Great Britain. However many of these countries have universal suffrage. This issue deals with the right to vote, however it is not that citizens can not vote. Many of the areas of South America are remote, and far away from one another, creating issues when voting. Also, most of these countries aren't industrialized. Many people in cities and rural areas are poor and have little education. Furthermore, many are illiterate making it almost impossible to vote. However in other countries, democratization has encouraged some to be involved with their government and have encouraged even more to vote. []

__ ** •Central America ** __ In Central America both El Salvador and Nicaragua are republics, while most of the other countries are some other form of a republic. Guatemala has a constitutional democratic republic as does Honduras. Costa Rica has a democratic republic and Panama has a constitutional democracy. Lastly, Belize has a parliamentary democracy. ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/region/region_cam.html ) In 2000 it was said that Central America was the most violent part of the Americas and one of the most violent parts of the world. It was recorded that in about every 100,000 people there, 58 are murdered. In the first half of the year (2000) 257 people were murdered in Guatemala alone. Now, many companies are setting up various safety equipment and 1 out of every 3 families are purchasing guns as a form of protection in the rural areas of the region. (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/47/096.html) __** •The Caribbean **__ The main islands of the Caribbean also have a diverse variety of governments. The Bahamas and Jamaica both have a constitutional parliamentary democracy while Cuba is a Communist state. The Dominican Republic has a democratic republic. Also, Haiti has a republic form of government while Puerto Rico is a commonwealth. ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/region/region_cam.html) Cuba ** The United States has a very long history with Cuba. With help from America, Cuba overthrew their Spanish rule in 1898. Then a treaty was made making Cuba an independent republic under US protection. However the US began to intervene with Cuban affairs, so the country soon terminated the treaty that allowed them to do this. America then ended military aid in 1958 after Fidel Castro began gatherin g a rebel army. Soon after doing this, Castro took over. In 1961 the United States broke relations with the island. This was when Cuba formed its alliance with the Soviet Union. When this country tried to deliver missiles to Cuba, the Soviet-Missile Crises arose. These rockets were capable of reaching the US so America quickly acted on blockading the country until the union's ships returned home. Around this time Cuba began sending out troops to develop so called "Communist revolutions." However Russian aid ended when Communism collapsed in Europe around 1990. In 2006 it was discovered that Cuba's long time leader had developed cancer, so he turned power over to his brother Raul Castro. He officially became the new president in 2008. Slowly citizens are gaining small freedoms however their government is still being ruled by a dictator. (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107443.html?pageno=1) Image - Raul Castro

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, so it has the same President and Government as the United States. However the island is also divided up into 78 counties, each with its own mayor, like the different local governments we have here in America. ( http://welcome.topuertorico.org/government.shtml )
 * Puerto Rico **

 __** •Different Forms of Government **__ Republic ** In a republic, the people have an impact on their government. The most common definition is "a form of government in which its head of state is not a monarch." It is ruled by a president or a head of state. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic ) It is a federation of states with a republican form of government. In which the federation is the central government, however they still follow the terms of a republic. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_republic ) ** Republic, Centralized System ** In this form of government, local governments are appointed by a central government. In other words, the central government has control over the local governments, while the local governments control each area of the country. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralized_government ) In this type of republic, the head of state and other government officials are elected to represent the people. They must govern the country according to an existing constitution that limits their power over citizens. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_republic ) A democratic republic is mostly a republic, who emphasizes the fact that they are also democratic. So this means that their government is ruled by the people, and, as being a republic, they are not ruled by kings. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic ) In which, the government is based on the popular vote and the powers and limits of the government are in a written constitution. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constitutional+democracy ) This is a type of representative government. In which the dominant legislature party determines the Prime Minister of the country. (http://www.mahalo.com/parliamentary-democracy ) The main purpose of a commonwealth government is to protect the welfare of the citizens and to do what is the peoples best interest. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/commonwealth) This form of government is when a communist party controls the state. Most have planned economies. Communism is a branch of socialism, which promotes a classless and stateless (government less) society with the idea of common ownership. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_state )
 * Federal Republic **
 * Constitutional Democratic Republic **
 * Democratic Republic **
 * Constitutional Democracy **
 * Parliamentary Democracy **
 * Commonwealth **
 * Communist State **

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