GLOBAL DIVIDES :

Global North and Global South

The Latin American Experience
• Hugo Chavez Frias
• president of Venezuela from 1998
until 2006
• initiated a socialist-inspired
program
• controlled the oil industry
• criticized US foreign policy in Latin
America as “a scheme of
domination, exploitation and
pillage
• forge strong bilateral relations
with anti-US leaders
 Hugo Chavez Frias

• confrontation with imperial powers is inevitable

• Venezuela will never be “a colony of the United States” or a pawn of
international financial institutions run by wealthy industrialized
countries
• depiction of a global capitalist system that benefits some states and
limits others
• Chavismo, a political ideology that highlights the ways in which many
people in developing countries interpret world politics differently than
their counterparts in more powerful, prosperous countries
 The Global Inequalities :
The Brandt Line that describes the global inequalities of countries
Earth is divided into two (2) hemispheres, north and south, at the equator. This divide
represents a popular way of describing the inequalities that separate rich and poor
states. By and large, these two groups are located on either side of the equator.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/Yaqoob63/the-northsouth-gap-m-yaqoob
 Perspectives of North and South Gap

• Classical economic development theory claims that the causes of

underdevelopment are internal. Low rates of productivity, a lack of
sufficient investment capital, and inadequate communication and
transportation system are among the main barriers.

• Dependency Theory hold that causes of underdevelopment are

external. Less-developed countries are vulnerable to penetration by
outside forces. The global south has been exploited by wealthier,
more powerful members of the world’s capitalist system.
Global south’s response to global north

• Various strategies to overcome their weakness and insecurity have

been adopted by global south states. Most of them have sought to
acquire modern weaponry, which have reduced their funds for health,
education and welfare program. Many also have tried to forge
regional free-trade groups, encourage foreign direct investment, and
seek relief from big debts to promote economic prosperity.