The Cold War And The Soviet Union

Among the ways the United States tried to curb the spread of communism in Latin America, was interfere in the inner policies of their countries. They were involving themselves in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. They were trying to convince Latin America that it was in their best interests to stay away from communist beliefs.

After the missile crisis both nations abandoned Latin America, leaving it in taters. This created a resentment for the United States in Latin America(lecture 5/21)

The Cold War which took place from 1947 to 1989 had eventually altered the Latin America's relationship to the United States profoundly, as the region became a battleground between two different competing ideological systems which was capitalism and communism. Prior to the Cold War, both economic and geopolitical concerns had motivated United States policy toward Latin America. But, after the lowering of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, George Kennan, the chief architect of American foreign policy towards the Soviet Union, advocated containment to stop the spreading of communism, not just in Europe, but including the countries all around the world. The result was a bipolar world featuring proxy wars fought throughout the Third World by alternates and clients of the two superpowers. Latin American nations are historically considered to be part of "our backyard," who were not permitted to remain neutral as Washington expected the Latin American countries to ally with the United States while the Soviet Union sought to gain access to what had been an American sphere of influence and after world war II many Latin American countries faced economic, social and political challenges.

The relationship between the United States of America and Latin America nations has been turbulent since the beginning of colonization. The United States had withheld a sense of superiority since its inception. Their view of Pan-Americanism is only shared by them; Canada and most Latin American nations do not share this view. They viewed Latin America’s struggle for independence as a necessity, but did not pledge their assistance until it coincided with American interests and objectives in the area. The author mentions Latin America’s one-crop economy, but they do not emphasize the role the US played in their economies or how much they were involved in their own politics. Recent events, in regards to Cuba, have made certain parts of the chapter

The US Government, along with non-state US actors, has had a long and violent history of involvement in Central and South American politics. Concurrent US administrations have supported coupes and regime changes in order to achieve immediate goals, or to avoid perceived threats. US involvement, however, has often been accompanied by negative consequences and atrocities. The US must break from old paradigm in order to develop a sustainable partnership in the Americas.

The late 1800s saw relations between the United States and Latin America become more imbalanced as the U.S. started to emerge as a world power. Always interested in Latin America, the U.S. became more entrenched through both military means and business investments in the region. This involvement lead to increasing tension between the U.S. and its southern neighbors, with growing distrust and resentment on their part toward a country which never hesitated to make its power known. The U.S. began to flex its might more and more during these years and even in the interim of military actions U.S. businesses were steadily building monopolies.

Weak Institutions: Since the late 1800’s, “Latin America [has been] the incubator for all great United States multinational corporations” (Harvest of Empire, 2012). The domination of the local resources and land, by MNC’s and the maintenance of that domination by the U.S. military effectively captured many Central American states economically and politically. This went on from the 1896 until the end of WWII when U.S. policy shifted, the paradigm became more

When approaching the history of the Cold War it is easy to identify the United States and the Soviet Union as the major players and that it was taking place in East Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. However, we often overlook the fact (with the exception of Cuba) that the United States was also engaged in Cold War in Latin America. One thing is certain the U.S was not afraid to cross moral lines in order to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world and especially when U.S hegemony was under threat or perceived to be under threat. In Stephens Rabe’s book The Killing Zone, Rabe addresses the United States policies towards Latin America and the means that the U.S took in order to secure their hegemony

The Central American crisis began in the late 1970s, when major civil wars and pro-communist revolutions erupted in various countries in Central America, resulting in it becoming the number one region among foreign policy hot spots in the 1980s. In particular, the United States feared that victory by communist forces would threaten the Panama Canal and would isolate the rest of South America from the United States if the countries of Central America were to be installed with pro-Soviet communist governments. Ruben martinez Raised awareness about the effects of the central american civil war on the mexican people through his literary works from crossing over, the kindness of strangers, and latino american taking a different path.

Central America is a region where security threats are related to domestic issues rather than to state actors. Its condition of bridge between the United States and the rest of Latin America makes it particularly exposed to trafficking networks of drugs, weapons and human beings. In the last century, a violent period of instability emerged due to the repression of communist insurgencies and social unrest by military regimes associated with economic elites. After the end of this period, the influence of the Armed Forces in the political life declined and the defense budgets were reduced, under the perception that conventional wars were an unlikely scenario. Additionally, Costa Rica and Panama had their military banned by law, to focus its resources in development and social needs. However, the lack of conventional wars

3.The Unite States sought to harness the massive economic potential of Latin American nations, which relied heavily on coffee, fruits, and other resources, which could greatly benefit the American import economy. American corporations, such United Fruit, had massive financial opportunities to profit off of agricultural imports as a vital interest to the U.S. in regions like the Caribbean, Ecuador, Central America, and on the South American

Political unrest in the central american region was very obvious in the 1970’s, and was later referred to as the ‘ Central American Crisis,’ when major civil wars and pro-communist revolutions erupted in various countries within the region. Four of the regions countries; Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras all experienced these civil wars. In El Salvador the El Salvadorian military fought against one of the the left wing militias within the country and with support from the US government managed to prevail unfortunately between ’75,000 and 90,000 people were killed’ and much land and cities were destroyed. Guatemala experienced civil war in both the 60’s and the 70’s, the most brutal being within the 70’s which was brought to an end with the presidency of Efraín Ríos. All of the democratic governments were supported by the USA throughout the crisis due to the US governments wish to maintain the relationship with Central America and especially Panama due to the Panama

At the end of the century, the total of the U.S. military and police assistance in the Hemisphere exceeded the economic and social aid it also provided. This was a new trend as even during the Cold War the economic aid exceeded the military one. From 2002 to 2003, the number of Latin American troops trained by U.S. programmes, mostly stationed in the ‘drug war states’, doubled (Chomsky, 2010; LeoGrande, 2007:357). At the beginning of his mandate, President GW Bush promised Latin America would be a priority for U.S. foreign policy. The challenge for the new administration was to set a new relationship that would take into account the region’s economic and social worries and its call for change (LeoGrande, 2007). However, after 9/11, Washington

The 20th century appears to be most destructive and productive in the history. From revolutions to wars, from colonization’s to independent states, from industrial revolution to Information technology revelation. This century had a lot to offer for historians. This century started with the different revolutions in countries to over throw monarch system, including China, turkey, Russia, and in England which colonize most of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile America have its own revolution and independence calls in south and Central America.

Delineating the uncontrolled sequence of local businesses from the late 1940s decided the early 1990s, Latin America’s Cold War investigates into the uncountable crises and turning points of the period, the Cuban revolution and its aftermath; the repetitive cycles of insurgency and counter-insurgency; the occurrence of currents like the National Security Doctrine, liberation theology, and reliance theory; the rise and demise of a hemispheric political encounter to U.S. domination in the 1970s; the blaze that surrounded Central America from the Nicaraguan transformation ahead; and the democratic and economic developments of the 1980s.