Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
Center for American Studies and Research
Connecting the Dots of 1982:
The Dynamics of the Global Left and Right and Their Contemporary Legacies
Dr. Les W. Field, Professor of Anthropology
University of New Mexico
In his lecture, Dr. Les W. Field detailed a history of alliances of the right and left in South and
Central America over the past few decades.
Dr. Field began by explaining the interactions between Israel and three right wing Latin
American governments:
Nicaragua’s relationship with Israel began in 1947, when the U.S.-installed Somoza dictatorship
voted in favor of the partition of Palestine, instantly making the two states close allies. Trouble
boiled over the next couple as the Sandinistas (a left-wing militant group) gained power,
eventually overthrowing the government in 1979. During the Reagan presidency, however, the
U.S. gave full support to the Contras (the rebels fighting against the Sandinistas), providing
massive amounts of weapons and training – a role that was soon taken over by Israel. Dr. Field
said that he himself witnessed the devastation that these weapons wreaked on civilians.
Similarly, Guatemala’s social democratic government also voted for the partitioning of Palestine,
and thus began its own early relationship with the Israeli state. By 1954, that government was
removed by a CIA-backed junta. As a result, Guatemala became a theater of Cold War combat
for the next four decades. As in the Nicaraguan case, Israel sold weapons and sophisticated
computer and communications equipment to Guatemala. By 1982, thousands of civilians, mostly
the indigenous Maya, had fallen victim to the Israeli-provided technologies and strategies,
whether through death or forced resettlement.
As in Nicaragua and Guatemala, in the 1980s Israel provided weapons and support to Argentine
military – an institution that was notoriously and unabashedly anti-Semitic – to aid in the
Falklands War. While the military disproportionately targeted Jewish Argentines during this
campaign, Israel used this discrimination to their advantage by advocating emigration over
resistance. The brutality that the Israeli government turned a blind eye to shows that it is more
concerned with its state-building project than actually defending and protecting the Jewish
peoples of the world.
Although Israel’s role in both Nicaragua and Guatemala matched U.S. interests (particularly in
its commitment to global anti-communism), Dr. Field stressed that its position in the Falklands
conflict demonstrates that it is not simply a U.S. proxy. Israel has specific ideological desires that
are distinct from those of the United States. Its commitment to its state-building project often
trumps other interests and alliances.
Leftist opposition groups gained strength throughout the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s all over
Latin America and the rest of the world. Members of these groups participated in a global
conversation about class struggle, the radicalization of rural peasantries, the nature of effective
leadership, and what role arms should play in the fight against imperialism. It was truly an
Connecting the Dots of 1982: The Dynamics of the Global Left and Right and Their Contemporary Legacies
Dr. Les W. Field
international struggle; each group linked by common interests, deep theoretical discussion, and
collaboration in particular missions. For example, the PFLP and the Sandinistas cooperated
across borders: the Sandinistas utilized the PFLP training camps in Jordan and participated in
efforts led by Leila Khaled and other Palestinian guerillas.
The end of the bipolar world, Dr. Field explained, sped the breakdown of these leftist social
movements. Without the logic of 3rd worldism that the Cold War provided, the left transformed
into a new creature: no longer composed of armed socialist movements, it currently maintains
official control most Latin American states. Its cross-border conversations and struggles have
effectively disappeared, as the very radicals who fought for the breakdown of states now rule
them. Have the original leftist movements lost all of their original character? Did they win or did
they lose? In contrast, the alliance between Israel and right-wing governments – notably
Colombia – still maintain the same strong military ties, commitment to anti-communism, and
disregard for indigenous life. Dr. Field left his audience wondering: What future conditions are
necessary for a resurgence of the global left and a break in the self-defeating military alliances of
the right? What will the future of these movements look like?