Extractive Imperialism in the Americas <UN> Studies in Critical Social Sciences Series Editor David Fasenfest (Wayne State University) Editorial Board Chris Chase-Dunn (University of California-Riverside) G. William Domhoff (University of California-Santa Cruz) Colette Fagan (Manchester University) Matha Gimenez (University of Colorado, Boulder) Heidi Gottfried (Wayne State University) Karin Gottschall (University of Bremen) Bob Jessop (Lancaster University) Rhonda Levine (Colgate University) Jacqueline O’Reilly (University of Brighton) Mary Romero (Arizona State University) Chizuko Ueno (University of Tokyo) VOLUME 70 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/scss <UN> Extractive Imperialism in the Americas Capitalism’s New Frontier By James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer With contributions by Paul Bowles, Dennis Canterbury, Norman Girvan, and Darcy Tetreault LEIDEN | BOSTON <UN> Cover illustration: ‘Earth 2.0’, created by Yuri Vladimir Delgado Martínez, Zacatecas, Mexico. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Petras, James F., 1937- Extractive imperialism in the Americas : capitalism’s new frontier / by James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer ; with contributions by Paul Bowles, Dennis Canterbury, Norman Girvan, and Darcy Tetreault. pages cm. -- (Studies in critical social sciences ; volume 70) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-26885-2 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-26886-9 (e-book) 1. Economic development--Political aspects--Latin America. 2. Natural resources--Political aspects--Latin America. 3. Capitalism--Latin America. 4. Latin America--Foreign economic relations. 5. Imperialism--Economic aspects. I. Veltmeyer, Henry. II. Title. HC125.P464185 2014 338.2097--dc23 2014017835 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1573-4234 isbn 978-90-04-26885-2 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-26886-9 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. <UN> Contents List of Tables vii List of Acronyms viii List of Contributors ix Introduction 1 Part 1 Imperialism and Class Struggle Dynamics 1 A New Model or a New Form of Imperialism? 19 2 Extractive Imperialism in Historical Perspective 49 3 Agro-Extractivism: The Agrarian Question of the 21st Century 62 4 Trade and Development in an Era of Extractive Imperialism 101 5 Class Struggle on the New Frontier of Extractive Capitalism 128 Part 2 Extractive Capitalism and Popular Resistance 6 Extractive Capitalism and the Resistance in Guyana 147 7 Extractive Capitalism and Brazil’s Great Leap Backward 176 8 Resistance and Reform in Mexico’s Mining Sector 194 9 Canadian Resistance to the Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline 234 10 Imperialist Dynamics of US-Venezuela Relations 255 11 Dynamics of 21st Century Imperialism 279 <UN> vi Contents 12 Reflections on us Imperialism at Home and Abroad 287 Bibliography 297 Index 316 <UN> List of Tables Table caption 1.1 FDI in South America and Mexico (1990–2011, annual average flows in USD billions) 21 4.1 Percentage distribution of FDI by sector in Latin America 113 4.2 Exports of primary products, per cent of total exports 114 4.3 Net inflows of FDI, by leading country in Latin America (us$ billion) 115 6.1 Total investment, 1999-2010 149 8.1 Mining projects in Mexico that have provoked high-profile eco-territorial conflicts 215 <UN> List of Acronyms alba Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América) amlo Andres Manual López Obredor bcgi Bauxite Company Guyana brics An association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa cepal Comisión Económica Para America Latina (eclac, in English) cloc Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations (Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo csr Corporate Social Responsibility cct Conditional Cash Transfers eclac Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ei Extractive Imperialism fdi Foreign Direct Investment ftaa Free Trade Areas of the Americas gb & gwu Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union gmos Genetically Modified Organisms gwma Guyana Women’s Miners Association igfmmsd The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development imf International Monetary Fund mnc(s) Multinational Corporation(s) mnci National Movement of Indigenous Peasants (Movimiento Nacional Campesino Indígena) mst Rural Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) nafta North American Free Trade Agreement nbc Northern British Columbia ngo(s) Nongovernmental Organization(s) nsp The New Social Policy oecd The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development pan National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional) pt Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) sitmmssrm Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos, Siderúrgicos y Similares de la República Mexicana unctad United Nations Conference on Trade and Development <UN> List of Contributors Paul Bowles is Professor of Economics and International Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George. This book is part of a larger proj- ect funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Other work from the project includes a co-edited volume (with Gary Wilson) entitled Globalizing Northern British Columbia: Agency, Contestation and Development in a Resource-dependent Region (forthcoming). Other recent pub- lications include (with Henry Veltmeyer) The Answer is Still No. Voices of Resistance to the Enbridge Northern Gateway PipelineCapitalism; and (with John Harriss) Globalization and Labour in China and India: Impacts and Responses, 2010. Dennis Canterbury is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and SocialWork at Eastern Connecticut State University. His research interests are globalization, labour, development, mining and agriculture. Currently, his research is on the economic partnership agreements between the European Union (eu) and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (acp) group of countries, focusing on the Caribbean Forum (cariforum) and the Economic Community of West African States (ecowas), with the Institute of Development Studies (ids), University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He is the author of European Bloc Imperialism (Brill, 2010). Norman Girvan is Professor Emeritus at the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, Canada). He was formerly Director of the un Centre for Transnational Corporations (unctc), Chief Technical Director of the National Planning Agency of the Government of Jamaica and Secretary- General of the Association of Caribbean States. He is widely published in the area of globalization and development, particularly in the context of the Caribbean. James Petras is Professor Emeritus in Sociology at Binghamton University in New York and Adjunct professor in International Development Studies at Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, Canada). He is the author and coeditor of over sixty books <UN> x List of Contributors and numerous other writings on the dynamics of world and Latin American developments. Recent publications include Imperialism and Capitalism in the 21st Century, Beyond Neoliberalism: A World to Win, Social Movements in Latin America: Neoliberalism and Popular Resistance, and What’s Left in Latin America. A list and an actual file of his periodical writings and journal articles are maintained and can be accessed at www.rebelion.org/hemeroteca/petras .htm. Darcy Tetreault is Research Professor of Development Studies at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico, and author of numerous publications in the area of pov- erty and Latin American development studies, including ‘Alternative pathways out of rural poverty in Mexico’ in European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (2010), and, with Henry Veltmeyer, Poverty in Latin America: Public policies and development pathways (2013). Henry Veltmeyer is Professor of Development Studies at Saint Mary’s University and the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (uaz) He is author and editor of over 40 books on Latin America and world development, including most recently Development in an Era of Neoliberal Globalization, Poverty and Development in Latin America, The Critical Development Studies Handbook, Socialism of the 21st Century; and (with James Petras) The New Extractivism in Latin America, Imperialism and Capitalism in the 21st Century, Social Movements in Latin America. <UN> Introduction Over the past decade, a new form of capitalism has