Britain and Paraguay
Puppeteers or bystanders?
Jan 4th 2013, 20:48 by D.R. | NEW YORK
AS THE author of our Christmas special
on the War of the Triple Alliance, a conflict that raged from 1865-70
between Paraguay and a coalition of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, I’ve
paid close attention to the burgeoning comment thread
regarding the piece. One theme in particular leaps out: the criticism
that the article misrepresented history by ignoring the role of Britain
in the war. Of the 107 people who have waded into the forum so far, no fewer than 15 different participants have independently claimed, to greater or lesser degrees, that
British interests (be it the government or companies based there)
orchestrated the conflict to undermine Paraguay’s independent
industrialisation and secure profits for its financiers and exporters.
This interpretation—derived from the dependency theory
school of foreign relations (which holds that the West became rich by
exploiting underdeveloped countries) and advanced by leftist authors
such as Uruguay’s Eduardo Galeano, Argentina’s León Pomer and Brazil’s Júlio José Chiavenato—has been widely taught in Latin America for decades.
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