Articles on politics and citizenship suggest the breadth of Afro-Latin American writers’ political thought and the depth of their political involvement. After achieving national independence, all four countries overturned colonial racial laws and write the principle of full civic and legal equality into their national constitutions. But as the Black newspapers repeatedly argued, constitutional ideals of egalitarian citizenship were consistently undercut and eroded by everyday racism and prejudice. The papers engaged deeply and critically with electoral politics in each context, offering criticism of the ways that traditional parties abused their relationships to Black political clubs, discussion of campaigns for legal change to extend civil rights, the legislative proposals of Black elected officials, and constitutional delegates. The Black press was also crucial to the creation of race-based political parties in Cuba, Brazil, and Uruguay.Black writers further engaged in debates over communism, fascism, authoritarianism, and democracy from the 1930s through the 1950s.

The second chapter traces the Brazilian reaction to the developments across the border in Argentina, which led federal politicians and local park boosters to establish a protected area of their own, the Iguaçu National Park in 1939. The Brazilian government created Iguaçu in the context of the “March to the West,” the 1940s federal campaign to occupy Brazil’s hinterland as a solution for an underdeveloped frontier. But the park’s creation also reveals the crucial role of local politicians and other intermediary agents in pushing for policies of territorial development. Park proponents, including state governors and local politicians, were aware of the national park being established in Argentina and used it as leverage for pushing for a national park on the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls. Their activism proved decisive in the establishment of the park in Brazil. The dialogue between local actors and the seat of power in Rio de Janeiro shows how territorial control is never exclusively a top-down process.

Although authorities have taken measures since the mid-2000s to contain tax burden growth, Brazil remains far more heavily taxed than Chile or Mexico. This chapter explains why. Contemporary analyses emphasize the 1998 constitution, which created major new social spending commitments. While raising a legitimate point, this argument suffers from important limitations, including the fact that Brazil was already Latin America’s most heavily taxed country even before 1988. This chapter argues that Brazil’s heavy taxation must be understood in terms of how historical events have shaped the influence of statist and anti-statist actors. In Chile and Mexico, threats to property turned economic elites against the state. In Brazil, in contrast, elites have faced no comparable threat. As a result, they have not come to view state expansion as particularly alarming and have not organized intensively to thwart it. Authorities have thus felt relatively free to increase taxes. In addition, Brazil’s state-led development path has provided more fertile ground for labor to expand and wield influence. The origins and evolution of the 1988 constitution must be understood within this broader context.