Hendryk
Banned
A documentary about architect Oscar Niemeyer I saw on TV recently made me wonder about all the unfulfilled promises of Brasilian history, and more generally Latin American history as a whole.
In the mid-20th century countries like Argentina and Brasil were widely regarded as regional powers in the making. They had size, they had resources, and therefore, it was assumed, they would sooner or later achieve powerhouse status. In the late 1950s Brasilian president Juscelino Kubitschek hired Niemeyer and city planner Lucio Costa to design from the ground up a brand new capital city, a Latin American Washington D.C. as it were. Within four years, Brasilia, arguably a masterwork of modern architecture, was up and running. It all went downhill from there.
So, two questions: what if Latin American countries (at least the larger ones) had managed to have decent, development-oriented regimes in the second half of the 20th century? (not necessarily democratic ones, but reasonably concerned about economic development, such as Singapore's, Taiwan's or South Korea's at the time). And, what POD would have been necessary?
In the mid-20th century countries like Argentina and Brasil were widely regarded as regional powers in the making. They had size, they had resources, and therefore, it was assumed, they would sooner or later achieve powerhouse status. In the late 1950s Brasilian president Juscelino Kubitschek hired Niemeyer and city planner Lucio Costa to design from the ground up a brand new capital city, a Latin American Washington D.C. as it were. Within four years, Brasilia, arguably a masterwork of modern architecture, was up and running. It all went downhill from there.
So, two questions: what if Latin American countries (at least the larger ones) had managed to have decent, development-oriented regimes in the second half of the 20th century? (not necessarily democratic ones, but reasonably concerned about economic development, such as Singapore's, Taiwan's or South Korea's at the time). And, what POD would have been necessary?