The US meddling in Latin America during the Cold War.

Question

Description

Read article and answer the week 12 discussion forum question

Discussion Forum Week 12: The Cold War and Latin America

Background: I would highly urge that you approach your reading this week

in this specific fashion. First, read the NSC-68 document attached in the

Week 12 email/announcement and which is also available in the Class

Readings module under content. Then read your textbook, Latin America: An

Interpretative History, from pgs. 212-244.

The reason I’m asking you to do this is because the United States was

immensely influenced and shaped by the ideas espoused by George Kennan

with regards to containment, or an official policy of seeking to contain

Communist influence that was supposedly emanating from the U.S.S.R. The

NSC-68 document ultimately amplified these ideas, portraying Russian

Communism as a virus that sought to affect the weaker tissue of other

countries. Consequently, the emergence of any leftist leader in Latin America

or any revolutionary activity within Latin America appeared on the United

States radar, ultimately resulting in the US mobilizing the CIA to engage in

coups, psy-op campaigns, paramilitary assistance, troop training, or

economic warfare against nations such as Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua, El

Salvador, and Peru. So read NSC-68 FIRST, so you can understand how the

United States viewed geopolitics throughout the world in a way that was

shaped by the anxieties and tensions of the larger Cold War. This should

then illustrate why the United States was so heavily involved throughout

Latin America, even moreso, from 1946-1991 (and it’s my argument that

your textbook downplays the extent of US involvement in Latin America

during the Cold War)

Question

After reading NSC-68 and contrasting that primary source with your

textbook reading on Latin America and the Cold War, in at least 250

words respond to this question:

How did the larger tensions and anxieties over the Cold War shape US

involvement and meddling within Latin America? In your opinion, what

is the legacy of American involvement in Latin American and in specific

Latin American nations during this time period?