Final answer:
The landed elite in Latin America held power through control of land and resources, plantation agriculture, and a social caste system, exacerbating class divides and creating an underclass. Land was often seized from indigenous people for use in cash-crop agriculture, without meaningful economic benefits for the general population.
Step-by-step explanation:
The landed elite dominated the citizens of countries in Latin America by controlling significant amounts of land and resources, often through systems such as the Spanish Land Grant and the hacienda system. Notably, the elites' use of these lands didn't always prioritize export profits but was closely tied to social prestige and power. Many elites were part of a social caste system, with Spaniards and creoles at the top, controlling key government and economic positions.
Throughout history, land was taken from indigenous peoples and used for plantation agriculture, where colonial powers like England and Spain forced locals or imported African slaves to work. This created systemic land tenure problems, and along with exploitative labor practices, contributed to a permanent underclass and a powerful oligarchy. Moreover, the revenue generated from this agricultural model rarely benefited the laborers, emphasizing the class divide and impairing social and economic development.U.S. and European corporations and banks played a significant role in the region's economies, often extracting resources and profits with little reinvestment into local communities. These historical factors subjected the majority of Latin Americans to a cycle of economic dependency and facilitated the domination of the landed elite over ordinary citizens.