by Strong Americas | Aug 20, 2026
At the dawn of the twentieth century, Venezuela came under the control of a succession of military strongmen from the Andean state of Táchira, known collectively as the Andinos. General Cipriano Castro seized the presidency in 1899 and ruled until 1908, when he...
by Strong Americas | Aug 20, 2026
Uruguay entered the twentieth century as an early outlier in Latin America, building a democratic welfare state under President Jose Batlle y Ordonez in the early 1900s. His reforms, often described as Batllismo, established an eight-hour workday, pensions, and public...
by Strong Americas | Aug 20, 2026
The United States entered the twentieth century as an industrial power and left it as a global superpower, a transformation driven by two world wars and a lasting rivalry with the Soviet Union. Progressive Era reforms addressed the excesses of rapid industrialization...
by Strong Americas | Aug 20, 2026
The early twentieth century brought rapid change to Trinidad and Tobago as the discovery and expansion of oil production reshaped the colony’s economy. Oil extraction, centered in the south of Trinidad, drew workers from across the islands and created a new...
by Strong Americas | Aug 19, 2026
Suriname entered the 20th century as a colony of the Netherlands, known then as Dutch Guiana, with an economy that had shifted from declining sugar plantations toward mining. Gold extraction expanded in the early decades of the century, and the discovery of rich...
