Strategy

Chapter 1:

So close and yet so different describes the city of Nogales which is divided by a border between US and Mexico into Nogales Arizona and Nogales Sonora. They both share the same geography and culture. Nogales Arizona enjoy good economic and health condition and stable law and order, on the other hand Nogales Sonora suffer from bad economic situation, bad health condition and low education status.

The main reason for such differences is the type of political and economic institutions that would motivate population and allow them to be productive.

The Founding of Buenos Aires

The Spaniards started their discoveries in South America as early as 1490s. Buenos Aires was the first place they settled in but mostly faced by the hostility of the locals. They were also not able to find the resources they were looking for so they decided to send expeditions to other areas for the same goals.

In four years after founding Nuesta Senora de Santa, Buenos Aires became free of Spaniards. They all moved to the new town; this was the first “Colony” made in that area and that showed their strategy that focus on using locals in digging the soil to find silver and gold for them.

Over the next century, Spain conquered and colonized most of central, western, and southern South America, while Portugal claimed Brazil to the east.

The Spanish strategy in colonizing consisted simply of two steps: Capture the indigenous leader and setting themselves up as the new elite of the indigenous society and taking control of existing methods of taxation, tribute, and forced labor.

The Spaniards used Encomienda which was the main institution used for the control and organization of labor in the early colonial period as their own way to control locals and to convert them to Christianity.

Institutions like encomienda (Tribute), mita (Turns), repartimiento (Distribution), and trajin (Burden) made South America the most unequal continent in the world and weaken much of its economic...