The incessant tourism propaganda propagated by PanAm and other American airways created an entire tourist industry in Latin America during the twentieth century. Acapulco, San Juan, and Havana were just the tip of the iceberg. The continued pursuit of neoliberal policies in the construction of this tourist industry is historically unsustainable, and has lead to labor exploitation and, as already seen, the development of “gendered concepts of service” that enhance economic inequalities within Latin American societies.¹ How can Latin American nations fight these neoliberal, neo-colonialist constructs that seem to crush their culture into easily-digestible powders for Americans to enjoy?

Through the development of their own airlines, Latin American nations begin to decolonialize the airways. Because of the sheer amount of “global tourism, it is not surprising that tourism is viewed by government institutions, tourist agencies, and cultural centers a vital element that bridges economic opportunities, educational issues, and self-determination.”² Instead of completely rejecting the global tourist industry, Latin America infiltrates the industry and uses it to its advantage. Latin American airways present this struggle for self-determination: while some nations create a completely new cultural identity, others continue to prescribe to the exotified roles given to them by American airways such as PanAm.

1. Alicia Swords and Ronald L. Mize,“Beyond Tourist Gazes and Performances: U.S. Consumption of Land and Labor in Puerto Rican and Mexican Destinations,” Latin American Perspectives35, no. 3 (2008): 66, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27648097.
2. Christine Ballengee-Morris, “Cultures for Sale: Perspectives on Colonialism and Self-Determination and the Relationship to Authenticity and Tourism,” Studies in Art Education 43, no. 3 (2002): 232, doi:10.2307/1321087.