Nice link from African American (Black) Political Pundit. Kinda long, though...pagination is your friend.
Anatomy of the American Empire
Neocolonialism
The American Empire is based on neocolonialism. Neocolonialism is a social relation in which an imperialist nation economically exploits subordinate nation(s) that are formally independent. The subordinate nation is officially independent with its own nation-state but is economically dependant on an imperialist nation which exploits it. An indigenous elite controls the state but the means of production are still (mostly) controlled by foreign capitalists. This is a form of economic imperialism. This is different from old-fashioned formal (traditional) colonialism in which the subordinated countries do not have political independence. Generally neocolonialism means that multinational corporations from the imperialist nation control a substantial portion of the economy of the subordinate nation(s).
An example of neocolonialism is Brazil. Brazil is very rich in natural resources and has a substantial amount of industrial development; if you go by natural resources it should be one of the richest countries in the world. In 1964 a US-backed coup overthrew the elected government and installed a military dictatorship. This dictatorship was sometimes called "Colonial Fascism" because of its combination of extreme repression (including torture and mass murder) with economic dependence on the United States. Although there were elements of neocolonialism prior to this period they became much larger as a result of the policies implemented by the new regime. Its policies greatly favored foreign capital, including free export of profits and reduced taxes on the income of foreign firms. Essentially, they sold off most of the country's economy to foreign (mostly US) companies. As a result by 1968 foreign companies controlled 62 percent of Brazil's foreign trade, 40 percent of the capital market, 77 percent of overseas air transport, 82 percent of its maritime transport, more than 80 percent of its pharmaceutical industry, 90 percent of its cement industry, 100 percent of its motor vehicle production and 100 percent of its tire production. The majority of these foreign companies were American. These policies simultaneously brought about immense poverty for the majority of Brazilians (Keen/Wasserman, p. 361-375). This foreign domination of Brazil's economy (and many other countries' economies) continues today and is an example of neocolonialism.
