C h r o n o l o g y
Chan Chan in north (Peru). Metal-
(Peru). Portuguese establish sugar
plantations in Brazil.
1534 Spanish found Quito
6500 BC Cultivation of potatoes and
working in Mesoamerica.
AD 900 Maya civilization starts to
decline; emergence of Chichen Itza
and Uxmal (Central America).
AD 950 Growth of Toltec empire
manioc.
in Central America. Spread of Inca
(Paraguay).
6000 BC Farming of corn and beans.
culture throughout Peru.
1538 Spanish found Bogota
5500 BC Domestication of animals.
1100 Toltecs build capital at Tula
3000 BC Permanent settlements in
(Mexico).
(Colombia).
1542 Spanish found Santiago
Tehuacan (Mexico). Earliest pottery
1168 Aztec ("Crane") people begin
(Chile).
(Ecuador and Colombia).
legendary pilgrimage.
1175 Toltec capital Tula destroyed
1545 Silver discovered at Potosi
Many dates approximate.
9000 BC Hunting and fishing.
8000 BC Earliest agriculture in the
Andes.
2500 BC Growth of towns and cities
(Ecuador).
1535 Spanish found Lima (Peru).
1537 Spanish found Asuncion
(Central America and Peru).
Emergence of religion. Cultivation
by Chichimec tribe.
(Peru/Bolivia) and at Zacatecas,
New Spain (Mexico). First Spanish
1200 Incas found settlement at
settlements in the Andean foothills.
of cotton. Manufacture of textiles.
Cuzco (Peru).
2000 BC Earliest metalworking (Peru).
Tiahuanaco (Peru).
1325 Aztecs found their capital
Tenochtitlan (Mexico).
1425 Aztec culture spreads
1548 Spanish found La Paz
(Bolivia).
1560 Portuguese start sugar planta
tions (Brazil).
1200 BC Olmec civilization in
throughout Central America.
1572 Fall of last Inca fort at
Mexico. City at Chavin de Huantat
1440 Incas start expanding their
empire through Peru.
Vilcabamba.
1470 Incas defeat Chimii; Incas'
Andean empire stretches from
raids Cartagena (Colombia). Jesuit
1600 BC First settlements at
(Peru).
900 BC Olmec capital at La Venta.
1586 English sailor Francis Drake
Caribbean, claims Cuba for Spain.
missionarism and trading spreads in
Paraguay.
1590 Spanish settlements in
Eastern Argentina.
1627 English start settlements in
Growth of Paracas culture along
1493 First Spanish settlement in
West Indies.
southern coast.
Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominica).
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divides
1630 Dutch settlement in Northern
Height of Chavin culture; spread of
sculpture and temple-building
Ecuador in the north to Chile in the
(Peru).
south.
500 BC Growth of Zapotec culture
1492 Columbus reaches the
(Mexico). Chavin culture in decline.
350 BC Rise of the Nazca along the
Peruvian coast; carving of the
Spanish and Portuguese possessions.
1500 Portuguese explorer Pedro
Nazca figures and lines.
300 BC The earliest Maya cities
established (Central America).
Alvares Cabral lands in Brazil;
50 BC Emergence of the Moche
Aztecs control southern Mexico.
culture in northern Peru; advanced
1510 Arrival of the first African
building techniques, ceramics, gold-
slaves in West Indies.
Portuguese colonization begins.
Brazil.
1637 Dutch take control of sugargrowing regions.
1654 Dutch ousted from Brazil by
Portuguese; found Guyana.
1655 English seize Jamaica from
Spanish.
1667 British Surinam swapped with
Dutch for New Amsterdam (New
York).
1680 Portuguese settlement at
A D 5 0 G r o w t h o f Te o t i h u a c a n
1515 Height of Inca empire.
1519-1521 Spanish conquistador
(Mexico); building of the Pyramid
General Hernan Cortes overcomes the
of the Sun.
Aztecs (Mexico). Spanish introduce
horses, oxen, guns, and the wheel.
1520 Magellan crosses the Pacific
Ocean. Last Aztec emperor
Moctezuma II captured by Cortes.
Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay);
rivalry with Spanish begins for con
trol of the region. Spanish establish
Spanish under Alvarado subdue the
Maya (Central America).
1525 Inca empire splits into civil
war. Europeans discover the potato.
1532-1536 Spanish under
Francisco Pizarro conquer the Incas
1719 New Granada founded
working.
AD 250 Building of Zapotec tem
ples (Mexico). Maya civilization
flourishes throughout Central
America.
AD 550 Tiahuanaco, Huari, and El
Tajin become major cities (Peru).
AD 650 Teotihuacan destroyed by
fire (Mexico).
AD 800 Huari abandoned,
Tiahuanaco expands. Growth of
sugar plantations in Cuba.
1693 Gold discovered in Brazil.
(Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador).
1721 Gold rush in Brazil.
1726 Spanish found Montevideo
(Uruguay).
1741 British attempt to capture
Chronology
Cartagena fails.
1763 Rio de Janeiro becomes capi
Brazil together become British
Guiana (Guyana).
1815 Portugal recognizes Brazil's
dence; civil war follows.
Uruguay wins independence.
1830 Gran Colombia fragments.
1831 Military rebellion in Brazil;
Pedro succeeded by his son, Pedro II.
1833 Slavery abolished throughout
British empire.
1835 Juan Manuel de Rosas estab
lishes dictatorship in Argentina.
1836 Peru-Bolivia union collapses.
in Peru.
1817 Erance claims French Guiana
1838 Slaves freed in British
1781 Communero uprising against
as overseas departement.
1818 In Chile, Republican
Bernardo O'Higgins defeats pro-
Caribbean. Honduras gains inde
tal of Brazil.
1766 British settle the Falkland
Islands.
special status. Spanish suppress
independence movement in
1776 Spanish separate Peru and
Colombia.
Argentina (Rio de la Plata), with
capital at Buenos Aires.
1780 Inca uprising against Spanish
Plata (Argentina) declare indepen
Spanish in Colombia.
1786 King Carlos III appoints
twelve governors of "New Spain."
1789 Uprising against Portuguese
1816 United Provinces of Rio de la
Spanish Royalists at battles of
pendence from Spain. United
Provinces of Central America split
(El Salvador, Nicaragua, and
Chacabuco and Maipu; Chile gains
Guatemala).
fails in Brazil.
independence.
1838-1865 Internal strife in
1791 Slave uprising against French
1819 In Colombia, Simon Bolivar
Uruguay.
in Haiti.
defeats Spanish at battle of Boyaca;
declares republic of Gran Colombia
1846-1848 War between Mexico
1 7 9 7 B r i t i s h s e i z e Tr i n i d a d f r o m
Spanish.
1798 British occupy Maya territory
of Belize.
1804 Haiti declares independence
from France.
1806 Uprising against Spanish in
Venezuela. British forces fail to cap
ture Buenos Aires.
(Venezuela, Colombia, and
Ecuador).
1821 Argentine Jose de San Martin
captures Lima, declares Peru inde
pendent. Spanish defeated at battle
of Carabobo (Venezuela); indepen
dence achieved. Mexico gains inde
invade Portugal; Portuguese king
pendence. King Joao VI returns to
Portugal; son Pedro regent of
Brazil. El Salvador, Nicaragua, and
Joao VI escapes to Brazil with
Guatemala gain independence from
British help; Brazil opened to free
Spain; together form United
trade.
Provinces of Central America.
1808 The French invade Spain.
Montevideo declares independence
1822 Pedro declares Brazil indepen
1807 The French under Napoleon
and United States; Mexico cedes
New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada,
Utah, California, and Colorado.
1850 Importation of slaves halted
in Brazil.
1853 Eederal government instituted
in Argentina. European settlement
of the Pampas spreads; beef farming
for export to Europe.
1858—1861 Civil war in Mexico;
progressives win.
1861 Liberal government in
Colombia.
1862 French invade Mexico, cap
Cochabamba.
emperor. Mexico and Ecuador gain
independence from Spain.
1824 In Peru, Spanish defeated at
battles of Junin and Ayacucho.
1825 Bolivia gains independence.
1810 Uprising against Spanish in
All mainland South America free of
ture Mexico City.
1865—1870 Paraguay goes to war
with Uruguay, Argentina, and
Brazil; triple alliance victorious.
Repressive regime in Bolivia under
Mariano Melgarejo.
1866 War between Peru and Spain.
1867 Benito Juarez deposes and
Mexico.
Spanish control. Increasing influx of
executes Maximilian 1 in Mexico.
from Buenos Aires.
1809 Simon Bolivar leads unsuc
cessful rebellions against Spanish at
Sucre (Chuquisaca), La Paz, and
1811 Rebellion against Spanish rule
by "New Granada" (Venezuela,
Colombia, and Ecuador). Paraguay
gains independence from Spain.
dent from Portugal, with himself
A m e r i c a n s i n t o M e x i c o ' s Te x a s
1868-1878 Uprising asgainst
province. United Provinces
(Argentina) fight Brazil over
Spanish rule in Cuba.
1878-1883 War against Indians
south of the Argentina Pampas.
Montevideo.
Uruguay.
1826 Last Spanish colonies in
South America gain independence.
1827 Uruguayan-Argentinian
victory over Brazil; Montevideo
recaptured; Uruguay becomes a
1814 Dutch colonies of Essequibo,
separate state.
a republic, growing coffee exports.
Demerara, and Berbice in north
1828 George Canning mediates and
1891 Federal constitution in Brazil.
Brazil attacks Uruguay.
1812—1820 Wars between
Uruguayans, Argentines, and
Brazilians. Brazil captures
1 8 7 9 - 1 8 8 3 Wa r b e t w e e n C h i l e ,
Bolivia, and Peru; Chile gains nitrate
areas; Bolivia loses access to sea.
1888 Slavery abolished in Brazil.
1889 Fall of monarchy, Brazil now
Chronology
novelist Romulo Gallegos president;
U.S.-backed military coup.
Collapse of republic in Chile.
1895 Second uprising in Cuba.
1926 Catholic rebellion in Mexico.
1897 Spain grants Cuba partial
Nicaragua.
1930 Revolution in Brazil; Vargas
1951 In Brazil, socialist Vargas re
United States; Cuba and Puerto
president; rapid industrialization.
Military coup in Argentina. Liberal
Olaya Herrera elected president in
Bolivia, Victor Paz Estenssoro elected
president; military coup, revolution,
restoration of Estenssoro, economic
Rico now under U.S. control.
Colombia. Leguia ousted by leftists
reforms.
1899 United States establishes mili
in Peru. National Revolutionary
1952 Death of Eva Peron.
tary regime in Cuba.
Party in power in Mexico.
1953 Military coup in Colombia.
1899-1903 Colombian liberal
Fidel Castro leads abortive revolt in
1901 United States establishes
1932 Military dictatorship in El
Salvador. U.S. marines again sta
tioned in Nicaragua; opposed by
Guantanamo naval base on Cuba.
General Sandino.
1954 General Alfredo Stroessner
Chile-Argentina boundary dispute;
British arbitrate. Oil production
1932—1935 Bolivia-Paraguay wars
comes to power in Paraguay. Vargas
commits suicide (Brazil).
starts in Mexico.
territory.
1933 Military coup in Cuba lead
Democratic constitution in Belize.
Panama from Colombia. Acre
by Fulgencio Batista. Military coup
in Uruguay.
regime in Guatemala.
province of Bolivia ceded to Brazil.
autonomy; independence struggle
continues.
1898 Spain defeated in war with
rebellion "War of 1000 days" fails.
1903 United States takes control of
U.S. marines stationed in
over Chaco region; Paraguay gains
elected; United States hostile. In
Cuba. Imprisoned, later exiled.
Democratic elections in Guyana.
U.S.-backed coup ousts leftist
1955 Peron ousted by military
Left-liberal Jose Batlle president in
1935 Somoza family establish dic
Uruguay.
tatorship in Nicaragua.
1936 Leftist coalition government
Paraguay. Military rule 1955-1958.
1956 Juscelino Kubitschek presi
establishes dictatorship in Peru.
1909 Liberal Jose Miguel Gomez
in Chile.
dent in Brazil; U.S. investment
1938 Death of Leopoldo Lugones,
grows. Fidel Castro leads guerrilla
president in Cuba; growth of
Argentine poet.
1939 Battle of the River Plate;
war against Batista. Civilian govern
German battleship Graf Spee
1908 Augusto Leguia y Salcedo
tourism and gambling.
1910 Mexican Revolution begins;
revolt in Argentina; exiled first to
ment restored in Peru.
President Porfirio Diaz ousted;
attacked by British and scuttled off
1958 Free elections in Venezuela;
Betancourt president.
Rmilio Zapata leads rural uprising.
1912 Military rule in Ecuador.
1914 Oil production begins in
Montevideo. Right-wing regime in
1959 Castro ousts Batista in Cuba.
Peru.
Che Guevara, Castro's deputy;
United States-Cuba relations deteri
1941 Peru-Ecuador war over El
Ve n e z u e l a .
Oro province; Peru gains territory.
1915 United States invades Haiti
1942 Brazil and Mexico enter
1960 Warming USSR-Cuba rela
and Dominican Republic, intervenes
in Mexican revolution, recognizes
Carranza as president.
World War II; declare war on
tions. Quadros president of Brazil,
critical of foreign capital.
1961 New capital of Brazil inaugu
G e r m a n y.
1943 Eurther military coup in
1916 Hipolito Yrigoyen president of Argentina; General Juan Peron
organizes trades unions. Chile sup
Argentina; neutral in World War 1.
Death of Nicaraguan poet Dario.
ports United States in World War 11.
o r a t e .
rated at Brasilia. Abortive "Bay of
Pigs" U.S. invasion of Cuba.
1962 United States begins economic
1917-1923 United States occupies
1945 Military coup in Brazil;
blockade of Cuba. Cuban missile
Cuba.
Vargas ousted. Military coup in
crisis; Russians back down.
1918 Brazil declares war on
Ve n e z u e l a .
Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos
Germany.
1919 Zapata killed in Mexico.
1946 Peron president of Argentina;
wife Eva champions workers' rights.
Jobim's "bossa nova" Desafinado a
worldwide hit; increasing popularity
1920 Rebellion of Indians in
Right-wing regimes in Chile and
of Latin-American music.
Bolivia crushed. Carranza killed in
Colombia.
Mexico.
1948 Assassination of Liberal
1963 Military coups in Peru and
Honduras. Publication of Argentine
1922 Oil production begins in
1925 Gerardo Machado establishes
Bogota mayor Gaitan in Colombia;
El Bogotazo riot; widespread
violence. Military government in
Julio Cortazar's Rayuela (Hopscotch).
1964 Military coup in Brazil; hard
line regime pursues economic
military dictatorship in Cuba.
Peru. Fdections in Venezuela;
expansion. Military coup in Bolivia.
Bolivia.
Chronology
Leftist government in Chile. Left-
F u e n t e s ' Te r r a N o s t r a .
Death of Jorge Luis Borges,
wing guerrilla movements growing
in Colombia and Uruguay (the
1976 Isabel Peron ousted; Military
Argentine writer.
1987 Gold rush in Roraima, Brazil.
Tupamaros).
disapearances occur in the "Dirty
War." Cuban troops help Angola
Ecuador's President Febres arrested
1966 Guyana gains independence
from Britain. Guerrilla war in
fight guerrillas supported by the
leads Libertad movement in Peru.
Guatemala.
1967 Death of revolutionary Che
Guevara in Bolivia. Jorge Pacheco
president in Uruguay. Guatemalan
writer Miguel Angel Asturias
awarded Nobel Prize for Literature.
1968 Military clampdown on dis
sent in Brazil and Peru. Olympic
Games held in Mexico City; student
demonstrators shot.
1969 13-day war between
Honduras and El Salvador caused
by World Cup qualifying match.
1970 Marxist Salvador Allende
elected in Chile; radical program
causes problems in economy.
1971 Death of Haitian president
Papa Doc" Duvalier; in ensuing
chaos, mass-exodus of Haitians to
United States. M-19 guerrilla group
active in Colombia. Chilean poet
Pablo Neruda awarded Nobel Prize
for Literature.
1972 Guatemala prepares for inva
sion of Belize; Britain stations
troops in Belize.
1973 General Pinochet leads
military coup in Chile; Allende's
suicide; repressive regime putting
junta outlaws political parties and
by army. Writer Mario Vargas Llosa
United States and South Africa.
1988 Contra rebels driven from
1978 Upsurge of guerrilla warfare
Nicaragua into Honduras.
and urban terrorism in Guatemala.
1989 Peronist Carlos Menem wins
1979 Anastasis Somoza ousted by
rebel coalition led by Sandinistas
with a radical social program.
Argentine presidency. Pinochet
retires after democratic elections in
worsen. Civilian rule restored in
Chile; Patricio Aylwin president.
Stroessner ousted in Paraguay.
Elections in Bolivia; coalition gov
Ecuador.
ernment. Fernando Collor de Mello
1980 New Reagan government
elected president in Brazil; inflation
1000 percent.
1990 Large areas of Amazonian
rainforest are recognized as Indian
territories (Bolivia, Ecuador).
Relations with United States
ready to provide military aid to
counter the Sandinista and Marxist
guerrillas in El Salvador. Coup in
Surinam.
1981 Liberal wins presidency in
Honduran elections. Return of
democractic government in Bolivia.
Rising guerrilla activity in El
Increasing anarchy in Peru; Alberto
Fujimori elected. Elections in
Nicaragua. Mexican writer Octavio
Paz awarded Nobel Prize for
S a l v a d o r.
Literature.
1982 Argentine general Galtieri
1991 End of USSR's economic
invades Falkland Islands
(Malvinas), recaptured by Britain.
assistance of Cuba; widespread
rationing. UN-brokered peace in El
Leftist government elected in
S a l v a d o r. E l e c t i o n s i n S u r i n a m .
Bolivia. United States tightens eco
1992 International Earth Summit
nomic blockade of Cuba.
held in Rio de Janeiro; Collor de
Colombian author Gabriel Garcia
Mello impeached for corruption.
Marquez awarded Nobel Prize for
War against drug barons in
Literature.
Colombia.
1983 Argentine military regime
leaves power, Alfonsine elected pres
1993 Eduardo Erei elected president
president. Escalating Latin
American foreign debt, Brazil the
1984 Anti-drugs justice minister
in Chile. Pablo Escobar, leader of
Colombian Medellin drug cartel,
dies in police shoot-out. Elections in
biggest debtor. Surinam gains
assassinated in Colombia. Elections in
Paraguay.
Uruguay; Julio Sanguinetti president.
1994 United States intervenes in
economy on sounder footing.
Peron returns from exile, reelected
independence from Dutch.
Publication of Mexican Carlos
Fuentes' Terra Nostra.
1974 Peron dies, new Argentine pres
ident Isabel Peron. Army in Uruguay
assumes bigger security role.
1975 Right-wing junta in Peru
ident.
1985 M-19 guerrilla massacre at
Colombian ministry of justice;
increasing power of drug cartels in
Haiti, restores President Aristide.
Colombia and Bolivia. Tancredo
embassy in Lima, Peru; embassy
successfully stormed by army.
1998 Oil-drilling starts off the
Neves elected president in Brazil;
dies. Leftists win elections in Peru.
Chiapas unrest in Mexico.
1996 Guerrillas seize Japanese
combats Maoist guerrillas Sendcro
Falkland Islands (Malvinas).
Earthquake in Mexico City.
1986 Collapse of Bolivian tin-mining
Luminoso. Escalating foreign debts
(BraziPs largest in world). Surinam
industry. Liberal Virgilio Vargas
elected president in Colombia.
gains independence from Dutch.
Publication of Mexican Carlos
Guatemala. Civil war in Surinam.
Civilian administration in