The Effects of the Cold War on La4n America
BY BRADLEY DISILVESTRE
Post WW2 Adjustments (Ideology)
The United States rose in the West as a democra2c superpower The USSR rose in the East as a communis2c superpower USSR a8empted to spread communism with post-­‐war influence US a8empted to limit the expansion, leading to indirect conflicts “the war had been won by a coali2on whose principal members were already at war -­‐ ideologically and geopoli2cally if not militarily -­‐ with one another.” 6 Gaddis Post WW2 Adjustments (La4n America)
 La2n American countries con2nued developing with import subs2tu2on industrializa2on, crea2ng more factories as to limit import reliance  US opened trade with La2n America, many were afraid the trade would destabilize or slow the growth of their economies  Many in La2n America saw the new superpowers as a way to upheave the current systems US La4n America Policies
Containment Policy
 Focuses on stopping the growth/spread of the USSR through economic, diploma2c, and military power  Implemented primarily by the US, first applied in Truman doctrine but used repeatedly by various presidents  The applica2on is reminiscent of TaP’s Dollar Diplomacy in how money was distributed to greatly further interna2onal influence/rela2ons Truman Doctrine
 March 12, 1947  President Truman declared immediate economic/military (400mil) assistance to Greece and Turkey to protect from Soviet expansion in their area  Massive outreach is supported by Truman’s Domino Theory where the fall of one Na2on into communism would cause a cascade of revolu2on in the surrounding areas, so communism must be stopped before it is firmly established  Set precedent for predecessors Truman Doctrine OPCVL
 h8p://www.history.com/speeches/the-­‐truman-­‐doctrine Origin and Purpose
 O) March 12, 1947 speech from United States President Harry Truman about his 400 million dollar doctrine of aid for Greece and Turkey  P) To give ra2onale for his doctrine as to convince congress and inform the American people  “Confusion and disorder might well spread throughout the en2re Middle-­‐East. Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this faithful hour the effect will be far reaching to the west as well as to the east.” Value and Limita4ons
 V) Supports the idea that US presidents will go to great lengths to contain and suppress the USSR  “I therefore ask the congress to provide us authority for assistance to Greece and Turkey in the amount of 400 million dollars for the period ending June 30th, 1938.”  L) Posi2on may have been supported to curry favor from the red-­‐fearing populace.   True beliefs may be diluted when put before a congressional audience, prohibi2ng unabridged ideas. Eisenhower Doctrine
Very similar to the Truman doctrine in that it promised aid to protect from Soviet expansion, but this 2me to Middle Eastern countries S2ll developing containment and showing that the US intends to interfere wherever Communism is involved Kennedy Doctrine
 Also a con2nua2on of containment but not focusing on the Mediterranean or the Middle East, but on the less developed countries below the equator  Gave more a8en2on to La2n American countries through organiza2ons  Alliance for Progress-­‐ Program between US and 22 La2n American Countries for aid in reform and growth  Brought US into Cuban affairs   What’s up with
Cuba??
Pre-­‐Revolu4on
 In 1933 Fulgencio Ba2sta came into power in Cuba, he con2nued the local tradi2ons of corrup2on and disparity  Numerous issues like: Ø Huge wage gap Ø High unemployment Ø Lack of public services Ø No distribu2on of poli2cal power Fidel Castro
 Cuban Revolu2onary that became the face of Communism in La2n America  Born August 13, 1926, Castro a8ended Catholic boarding and high school before studying law in university  In school he did poli2cs and par2cipated in violent groups and riots before a8emp2ng to do poli2cs officially  When this failed, he con2nued a8emp2ng revolts with varying degrees of failure Revolu4on!
 APer being released from prison, Castro retreated to gather forces in Mexico before directly opposing the Ba2sta regime in December 1956  Using guerilla and psychological warfare with a miniscule force of 800, Castro frightened and wore down the Cuban military before seizing Cuba on January 1st 1959 Communist AQermath
 APer Castro concluded the revolu2on the Communist Party of Cuba was in power Changes: Ø Eliminated Capitalism and na2onalized industries Ø Began working with the USSR Ø Developed similarly to other Communist satellites in Europe US Response
 US was like “no man that’s not cool”  Because Cuba seized hundreds of millions in US property/business and because THERE IS A COMMUNIST COUNTRY LIKE RIGHT THERE  Many US congressmen denounced Castro and President Eisenhower set up a trade embargo on everything except food and medicine Bay of Pigs Invasion
 Later on, the US a8empted to remove Castro from power by funding and facilita2ng an uprising  1,500 armed Cuban exiles landed on the “Bay of Pigs” in April 1961  This didn’t work out causing many insurgents to be captured, the US/CIA to be indicated, and later it was revealed that people from the wrong fac2ons were selected for the plan anyways Cuban Missile Crisis
 Another incident occurred when the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 that could hit much of the US  In response, president Kennedy decided to set up a naval blockade to prevent further shipments   Kennedy and Khrushchev nego2ated that the USSR would rescind the missiles and the US would not invade Cuba, in addi2on to rescinding missiles in Turkey  Castro got angry that the USSR backed down and nego2ated and would no longer associate with them Cuba Summary
v A8empts at US interference in La2n America have varied results v The presence of a Communist country did not cause the Domino Effect v US would con2nue to enforce containment and the Monroe Doctrine v Tension between the US and the USSR rose What is non-­‐Alignment?
 Movement where a country does not become aligned with a geopoli2cal/military structure The requirements include beliefs such as: Ø Respect for fundamental human rights Ø Recogni2on of movements for na2onal independence Ø Refraining from acts of aggression against the integrity/independence of any country   La4n-­‐American Members
 Include but not limited to: Ø Cuba -­‐ 1961 Ø Chile -­‐ 1973 Ø Peru -­‐ 1973 Ø Belize -­‐ 1976 Ø Panama -­‐ 1976 Impact of CIA on La4n American Poli4cs
Guatemalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala
 Guatemala is a good example of how the CIA interfered with the poli2cal atmosphere  Jacobo Arbenz was elected Guatemalan president in 1950, He made an Agrarian Reform bill which let the Government buy land off of planta2ons (like eminent domain)  Planta2on owners and workers were upset at the loss of land  Communists were encouraging uprisings but Arbenz wouldn’t stop them because they helped him come to power United Fruit Company
 The United Fruit Company (UFC) was the largest conglomerate in Guatemala, worked in farming and controlled the Puerto Barrios port that was integral for Guatemalan involvement with interna2onal trade.  Under prior leaders they received some tax exemp2ons but the new reforms hurt them in par2cular because the company severely undervalued their land to avoid remaining taxes   United Fruit Company
 The UFC was known to bribe/manipulate their opposi2on and poli2cians to stay powerful, was influenced by foreign donators like the US  When the government a8empted to buy UFC land for $600,000 the UFC responded by asking for $15,000,000 instead (20x counter offer)  This offer would not be accepted work so the UFC and its US supporters for upset US Media Response
 US correspondents got in contact with media specialists and had them vilify the Arbenz administra2on, making every ac2on look bad to the public  They claimed the Arbenz administra2on was dangerously an2-­‐American compared to his predecessor and Communis2c for keeping Communist officials Glass Half-­‐Empty
 When the Arbez administra2on was concerned and afraid of uprising they purchased weapons from Czechoslovakia  Media specialists spun this as a clear connec2on to the USSR because of the Czech’s Communist leader  Through applica2on of the Containment beliefs, Domino Theory, and the Monroe doctrine the US now had jus2fica2on to interfere with the suspected USSR meddling Enter: Opera4on PBSUCCESS
 The CIA ini2ated an opera2on to remove Arbenz from power  Opera2on PBSUCCESS included: Ø Specially training 150 exiles for insurgency Ø Establishing communica2on lines and jamming for radio Ø Aggressively using psychological warfare through the radio Ø Orchestra2ng an overthrow and installing a more “coopera2ve” leader Guatemalan Revolu4on
 CIA selected Cas2llo Armas to lead the rebellion because he was of small stature, humble in temperament, and stupid  While receiving orders from the CIA, Armas led a small force against the Guatemalan troops  Rebels only won a few ba8les but the US used radio to give them informa2on and to demoralize the opposi2on  President Arbenz quit and was replaced by Colonel Diaz who faced similar propaganda and guerilla warfare un2l defeat AQermath of Guatemala
Cas2llo Armas became provisional and then full-­‐2me president, then he established an2-­‐Communist laws and incrementally took power and rights from the people (burned books, abolished par2es) With Guatemala now facing a dictator and the UFC never returning to prosperity, US interven2on destabilized yet another country to oust Communism America’s Involvement with Allende and Chile
 In Chile a Socialist party a8empted to run for presidency with candidate Salvador Allende Gossens  The US, fearing another Cuba, leaped into ac2on with President Nixon trying to influence the elec2ons and organize a coup  Unlike in Guatemala, these plans did not succeed and Allende won the Elec2on in 1970 AQermath of Chile  When Allende came into power he implemented new economic policies and was a8emp2ng to stop plumme2ng copper prices  The USSR saw the chaos and decided to wait for a be8er 2me to take them under their wing  This hesitance backfired when in 1973 a different rebel army overthrew Allende and established an authoritarian regime Summary
v Democra2c US vs Communis2c USSR v Contain the USSR by throwing money around v Try to stop every Communist domino v Many na2ons went unaligned v Frequent US interven2on frequently caused problems Works Cited
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