 The Economic Matrix: The Theory of Dependence. After the end of World War II, the United States undertook to finance the “development” of Latin America on the model of industrialized and capitalist nations. This is what the Alliance for Progress (1961–1973) aimed to do this by granting loans that would help economically underdeveloped nations to ascend the ladder of economic development. This program was guided by the economic theory called “desarrollismo” or developmentalism. Yet, Latin American nations continue to lag behind both socially and economically.