Incluye referencias bibliográficas.

"Twentieth-century Latin American historiography suffers from two very grave deficiencies. It has failed to recognize the decisive historical role of organized labor and the labor movement in the evolution of the societies of the region. And it has failed to account for the very different ideological and political trajectories of the various Latin American labor movements-Marxist in some countries; neo-fascist in at least one; liberal, until now, in several others. Both of these deficiencies have a common root; neglect of the full social implications of the ways Latin American economics were integrated into an evolving world capitalist system in the century after 1880. After that date, the maturation of the industrial societies of the North Atlantic Basin created the enormous capital and technological resources, and internal social ando political imperatives, that propelled a massive export of European capital to the rest of the world. In Latin America, elite social groups took advantage of these conditions to transform their own societies. One by one, Latin American nations came to specialize in the production of one or more primary commodities for export" (tomado de la fuente).