Category: Module 3 Assignment: Analyzing Documents from Cold War Latin America

In this US Army intelligence and security review, it is clear that the United states was participating in the activities that its critics claimed them to be partaking in – the political maneuvering to gain and maintain allies while ensuring that they could have a close eye on their perceived enemies. Alexander Dawson states that for major players of the time, “That their force was felt indirectly, in some ways channeled through U.S. politics.” That it, “alerts us to their capacity to move beyond the traditional spaces of political struggle.” To continue to work towards their containment policy, the United States would set the stage in such a way as to allow them to observe and disrupt the activities of places under the influence of the Soviet Bloc. There is very little doubt in my mind that postwar soviets were likely doing the same thing right back. As Dawson puts it, Latin American Countries “were among the central sites for the proxy battles of the cold war.”…”both the United States and the Soviet Union, both superpowers intensified the volatility of already polarized nations”.

 These maneuvers to sway other nations as a sort of meta-politics are documented in the now declassified US Army intelligence and security report for the 1978 fiscal year. In it are short concise statements about the accomplishments of the intelligence units in that year, context for their operations, and plans for the future. This specific year’s issue is of importance because it shows how the overtly well-meaning gesture of a treaty for the Panama Canal was handled from the intelligence and covert operations perspective. This would be the Panama Canal treaty between US president Jimmy Carter and Panama’s leader General Omar Torrijos, to transfer control of the passage to Panama. Talks of behind the scenes activities during negotiations, aerial espionage, and clandestine operations all can be found within the document. The document states – “As in FY 1977, activities surrounding the process of approving the new Panama Canal Treaties dominated the operational scene during FY 1978”. The primary focus of US intelligence operations during these times was to have the upper hand in Latin American dealings.

To start, on page 126 of the document are accolades given to an intelligence unit for their “timely, accurate, and important information” claiming that whatever that information was, it allowed US negotiators to “bargain from an advantageous position”. In essence, this means that they are recognizing the intelligence unit for providing such compelling information, that negotiators were able to leverage it for their favor. The second portion touches on the “Mini-camera of the 470th MI Group”. The revelation here was that inconspicuous planes were to be used on inconspicuous flight paths while secretly reconnoitering. The statement claims that Venezuelan aircraft were staged in support of Nicaragua’s Sandinista rebels. These Sandinistas would later go on in the next year overthrow their dictatorship. The final and most interesting aspect of this intelligence analysis are the statements on development of “a new, deep-cover HUMINT (human intelligence) element which would operate under clandestine collection projects”…“pertaining to Soviet Bloc activities in Latin America”. The US had no plans of distancing itself from Latin America, instead seeking to further entangle itself in Latin American conflict.

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=4895708-Office-of-the-Deputy-Chief-of-Staff-Operations

(pages 126 & 127)

The Freedom of Information Act has allowed archived documents from the Cold War era to understand different aspects of it and what roles the US and politics played in it. The CIA played a great role in the Cold War and the aftermath of the Cold War. This includes the “Special Group” that approved covert operations alongside Presidents Kennedy and Johnson during the years following the Cold War. After the Cold War, the US government created an alliance with Latin America in order to combat the threat of social revolution. The United States did this by providing weapons, money, troops, and special agents (Wood, Chapter 9). From 1964 to the 1980s, the United States declared its support for the temporary suspension of civilian democratic regimes for hot spots of guerilla conflict even. The CIA focused on these covert missions including the bugging of the soviet military communications. But later under Kennedy switched focus to Latin America, particularly Cuba. Plausible Deniability was legal and used by US government officials to basically deny these operations. President Kennedy had to take on many operations when he entered office in 1961 that were started by President Eisenhower. Operations with Cuba involved Fidel Castro but ended during the “Bay of Pigs” after a few months. A President had to become involved in these covert operations when the operations carried very high risk, or when they were judged as moderate risk but the high command was divided on whether or not to approve them. The president would have to meet with the Special Group members in the CIA to discuss the proposals, and in this case, President Kennedy had to meet with 5412 members in Cuba (Prados, Jimenez-Bacardi, The High Command of the Secret War). This is how US government officials used the CIA during and mainly the years following the Cold War with Latin America. We see how an alliance was formed, but also the covert operations done by the CIA to prevent further war and social revolution.  

“Chapter 9.” Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations, by James A. Wood and Anna Rose Alexander, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. 

Prados, John, and Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi. “Understanding the CIA: How Covert (and Overt) Operations Were Proposed and Approved during the Cold War.” National Security Archive, 5 Mar. 2019, nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2019-03-04/understanding-cia-how-covert-overt-operations-proposed-approved-during-cold-war.

Document link: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2019-03-04/understanding-cia-how-covert-overt-operations-proposed-approved-during-cold-war

During the Cold War era, there were tense moments between the United States and the Soviet Union but, none other like the Cuban Revolution. In the years following the Cuban Revolution, certain events made the situation escalate to a point where it could have triggered a greater conflict between these two powerful nations. We can study in-depth these historical events and discover different primary sources related to this topic on the National Security Archive website where I had the opportunity to find, after intensive research, a document named “Eyes Only for the President” written by Richard N. Goodwin, advisor to then-President John F. Kennedy, on November 1, 1961. In this document, we can perceive the urgency in Goodwin’s words to create an effective plan for an armed intervention to overthrow dictator Fidel Castro who represented a threat to the national security of this nation. In this letter to President Kennedy, Goodwin emphasizes the importance of designing a project in extreme secrecy, to solve the recurrent problem of communism in Cuba which could eventually affect all parts of Latin America.

Fidel Castro, along with Ernesto “Che” Guevara, led what it would be known as the Cuban Revolution at the end of the 1950s, overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista and ultimately proclaiming Castro the new absolute leader of Cuba. Castro and “El Che” were convinced that the best solution to the current situation in Cuba was to declare independence over the evilness of imperialism. To achieve this, new reformations were immediately implemented in the island, such as authoritarian power, nationalization of private companies, and social equality inspired by Leninist-Marxist ideas. with that Cuba could be a government autonomous and not a colony manipulated by imperialism. Castro, in his speeches, declared that even before the revolution, all the social and economic problems of Cuba and Latin America had a name, and it was the United States. This country, since the beginning of the 20th century, had taken advantage of the vulnerability of all Latin American governments to impose its laws through intimidation that only benefited the US government while impoverishing the peoples of Latin America.

In Cuba in 1901, after the Spanish-American War, an amendment named the Plat Amendment was created in the Cuban constitution to give the United States the right to intervene in Cuba when necessary. For many years after this amendment was created, the United States greatly influenced the island’s politics while gaining control of the economy, creating social inequality, a lack of labor rights, and overall discontent in the society. Fidel Castro’s acknowledged these issues and saw the opportunity to make a revolution that would change the political history of Cuba. He believed that communism was the only reliable method to solve the current situation therefore, he decided to ally with the Soviet Union in hopes of gaining more power. The alliance between the Soviet Union and Cuba deeply concerned the US government, which saw this union as a threat to national security but, more importantly, a threat to the democracy of all Latin American nations.

In April 1961, the US government led the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. This invasion failed and, with that, the opportunity to liberate the Cuban people from the oppression and authoritarianism of Castro. Richard Goodwin, on November 1, 1961, months after the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, wrote in his memorandum to President Kennedy persuading him to continue in the efforts of collaborating to carry out another mission to overthrow Castro and stop the spread of communism in Latin America. Goodwin, in this document, highlights three major points; The next mission will have to have a leader, an action plan, and everything must be handled with confidentiality to ensure victory.

In conclusion, this primary source teaches us how important was for the United States to protect and fight for the democracy of all Latin American nations. Cuba was taking a challenging position in the eyes of this country for this reason new measures had to be implemented to put an end to this regime.

Work Cited

Wood, James A. and Anna Rose Alexander, editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5^th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Document link: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=6434683-National-Security-Archive-Doc-07-White-House

National Security Archive “White House, Richard N. Goodwin, Memorandum, Eyes Only for the President, November 1, 1961

Based on a memorandum between Fidel Castro and the U.S. Vice-President, it is clear that Castro helped Cuba create its fate. On January 8, 1959, Castro and his forces entered Havana as the Cuban Revolution’s victors. Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista, who served as a military dictator from 1952-1959. Batista’s repressive government widened the gap between the rich and poor.  His economic policies gave away 75% of Cuba’s farmland to foreigners, and the United States held control over Cuba’s sugar industry.  According to class readings, “The economic instability of the sugar industry … and foreign domination of the economy … exacerbated these inequalities, generating twin sets of grievances for ordinary Cubans” (Dawson location 5571). Eventually, Cubans began to riot, displaying public discontent over the declining economy, inequality, and the repressive government. Castro managed to expand these demonstrations and riots into a collective people’s fight.

Castro gained support from the working-class poor and Cuba’s rural classes.  He chose to live among Cuba’s rural population and identified with the poor.  Despite having little to nothing, Castro inspired everyday people to fight the Cuban military that the U.S. had supported with heavy arms. Outnumbered and poorly armed, Castro and his countrymen used guerrilla warfare tactics.  Historians assert, “Batista fell because of a concerted effort that included rural guerrillas, an urban underground, and striking workers” (Dawson location 5576). Ultimately, Cubans from the ground up defeated Batista’s regime, and with their victory, they decided their country’s political and ideological fate.

The United States kept a watchful eye on Cuba. Since the end of World War II, U.S. Presidents feared the Soviet Union would convert Latin American countries into Communist allies. Cuba was a close neighbor to the U.S. and had achieved a revolution during the Cold War. It was not a literal war, but rather an ongoing political and ideological rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Castro emerged as the new leader of Cuba and chose communism, infuriating U.S. President Eisenhower.

After the Cuban Revolution, Castro visited the United States in April 1959. The trip was an opportunity to prove himself a world leader, validate socialist policies, and explain how communism best served the Cuban nation. Vice-President Richard Nixon wrote a memorandum that provides a description of a meeting he had with Castro on April 19, 1959.  In the memo, Nixon explains how he tried to push Castro towards pursuing democracy and capitalism for Cuba.  Nixon has doubts if he could sway Castro’s thinking. For example, Nixon speaks to Castro about holding public elections as soon as possible. However, Nixon found it hard to convince a man who “seemed obsessed with the idea that it was his responsibility to carry out the will of the people” (Nixon p.1). In return, Castro offered criticisms of the U.S. He suggested that Nixon talk about U.S. Democracy rather than use propaganda to create fear of communism.  According to Castro, fear-mongering was not the best way to convince the world of U.S. superiority to communism. Ultimately, Nixon admits to being impressed by Castro’s undeniable force as a leader. Nevertheless, he concludes by criticizing Castro, saying, “he is either incredibly naïve about communism or under communist discipline – my guess is the former” (Nixon p.4).

The relationship between the U.S. and Castro would go downhill after this meeting. In less than a year, the U.S. government would attempt to overthrow Castro in the Bay of Pigs attack, but they failed, ending with decades of animosity between the two countries.

Work Cited

Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

Document-10-Memorandum-of-Conversation-Rough

Myre, G. (2014, December 17). The U.S. And Cuba: A Brief History Of A Complicated Relationship. Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/17/371405620/the-u-s-and-cuba-a-brief-history-of-a-tortured-relationship

National-Security-Archive-Doc-03-White-House

As the Cold War progressed and tensions between the United States and the USSR heightened, both countries began to race to promote their own ideology to the rest of the world. While more established countries and nations had the choice of whether to support democracy or communism within their own countries, regions that either did not have established governments or were new to such were targeted by both the US and the USSR. Both the US and the USSR invested heavily in these countries offering resources, finances, and even troops to ensure that these countries would support their respective ideology. For the US, their direct involvement in Asia and Africa proved both extremely costly and woefully ineffective. Perhaps the most infamous example would be the US involvement in Vietnam. In order to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam, the US splurged on military resources including troops to support the anti-communist party, which resulted in a complete failure and utter humiliation for the US. After the costly battles against communism and the USSR in Asia and Africa, the US decided to implement a more indirect and covert approach in Latin America. As outlined in David Schmitz’s “Lesser of Two Evils” (Problems 10.2), while the US surely did not want to support the military dictatorships in Latin America, they believed that it would be better than allowing the communist party to take over the country. However, rather than directly sending resources or troops to the anti-communist parties and dictators like in Asia and Africa, the US opted to use more covert methods to ensure that these anti-communist parties would maintain control. At the extreme end of the spectrum, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was rumored to have planned the assassination of Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro (Problems 10.4). On the other hand, the more realistic and common method that the US implemented was the indirect support of anti-communist groups. However, the effectiveness of this method was highly debated among US officials such as Arthur Schlesinger. In the document above, Schlesinger addresses and critiques the United States’ covert methods to combat communism and overthrow Castro in Cuba. In his memorandum, Schlesinger mentions that the United States’ plan to support reactionaries and pro-Batista groups simply because they may be more open to US control will end up a failure. This conclusion became a reality as pro-Batista groups began to dwindle and Castro began to gain even more support. However, the question is, “Why would the United States push for such an ineffective and volatile method?”. It is highly likely that the United States was acting based on the lingering effects of their failures in Asia and Africa, namely the Vietnam War. In order to avoid both the immense cost of direct involvement and the debilitating backlash of domestic media and public opinion, covert operations seemed to be the perfect option. Covertly supporting anti-communist groups and reactionaries such as the pro-Batista groups in Cuba required very little resources, but more importantly, it left practically zero traces of US involvement in the country. While this method seemed to have very little risk for the US, it also proved to be quite ineffective as Latin America was going through a period of revolution and change.

Document Link: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=7201989-National-Security-Archive-Doc-3-U-S-Embassy

The document I chose to analyze is a diplomatic cable written by Ambassador Edward M. Korry on September 5th, 1970 which quickly denounces Chile’s conservative party for allowing Salvador Allende, the new Socialist president, to win the election. This accusation by Korry can be best explained by  the stagflation of Import substitution Industrialization (ISI) and the lack of reform as a response (Dawson 285). With the decline of GDP growth in the 1960s in Latin America, many countries found themselves trying to keep up with funding industry, education, health, and welfare programs (Dawson 285). Instead of creating reform, Latin American countries borrowed abroad to maintain their spendings. However, high rates of inflation, increased unemployment, and social unrest escalated (Dawson 285). In the document, Kerry alludes to the lack of reform by the right after the dissolution of ISI in Chile. He states,”A Right that blindly and greedily pursued its interests, wandering in a myopia of arrogant stupidity. They disdained organization and deliberately scorned the one element of their forces that has some semblance of structure, The National Party” (Korry, 4). Korry talks about how Right wing party in Latin America failed to create reform and instead relied on subsidies from other countries to hopefully fix their problems. Also, how the right in Chile failed to utilize the National Party, the conservative party platform, as a way to change policy in order to mobilize support for the election. Another quote that best explains why the Right didn’t win the election is,” The Political Right depends upon the Economic Right” (Korry, 7). In other words, garnering support for the National Party or any party in general depended on the economic conditions in Chile. Many Chileans probably saw Popular Unity (Allende’s Party) as a solution to the economic problems caused by the National Party. Also, many probably saw the National Party as the cause of their problems.

Korry also explains why Salvador Allende won the election. His victory wasn’t due to opposition towards the right but through cultivating more support towards to the Left. The Allende was “smarter” and “Sticked with bread and butter issues, to project a personality with broader appeal than a rigid cynical doctrinaire” (Korry, 5). The “bread and butter” issues that Korry seems to be referring to are most likely the issues that came out of the dissolution of ISI such as unemployment. Opposed to the National Party, the Popular Unity party according to Korry had,”the conviction, the organization, and the power base” (Korry, 7). This tells us that it wasn’t just the policies of Popular Unity that appealed to people, but it was the way the party made an effort to appeal to people. Considering that Allende received 36% of the popular vote, of course not everyone was pro-Allende. However Allende’s revolutionary program, smart organizational skills, and campaign were built around the failed duties of the National Party probably spoke to many Chileans who were affected by the failure of ISI. 

Works Cited:

1. Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence : A History with Primary Sources, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=1779185.
2. Korry, Edward M. “Doc.3. U.S. Embassy Chile Cable, ‘Allende Wins,’ Confidential, September 5, 1970.” The National Security Archive, 1970, nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=7201989-National-Security-Archive-Doc-3-U-S-Embassy.

This photo was taken in Bolivia on October 9, 1967. In this photo is the final moment of a revolutionary captured by U.S-trained Bolivian forces.  In the middle is Che Guevara, whose expression is glazed over and covered in numerous bruises, including piercings in his arms and an incomplete finger. His other arm is out of the frame, though it is thought to have been injured as well.  According to the article, “Che Guevara was executed in the hills of Bolivia after being captured by the U.S trained Bolivian military battalions. A CIA operative, Felix Rodriguez, was present. U.S. officials had been tracking Guevara’s whereabouts ever since he disappeared from public view in Cuba in 1965.”

Latin America entered a new revolutionary era with the outbreak of the Cold War and the rise of populism in the 1950s. Guevara and Castro were idealistic revolutionaries who are willing to use violence to ferment a new revolution within the region. The rise of Cuban revolutionaries was of interest to communistic states, such as the Soviet Union. But the communist revolution brought its disadvantage. On the economic side, the Cuban economy lacks diversification and relies heavily on the Soviet Union for financial support. “Centralized budgeting failed spectacularly. The government confronted food shortages as early as 1962 when it began rationing food, clothing, and consumer items. By 1963 production volumes of any number of staple crops had plummeted and production across the economy had declined. The sugar harvest also fell, from 6.7 million tons in 1961 to 3.8 million in 1963.” (Dawson 253)

On the political side, the United States government began to take a hostile attitude towards Cuba after its communist revolution. The Bay of Pigs invasion marked the first high point of U.S. anti-Cuba action, but it does not mean that the United States has given up on its goal of overthrowing Castro. In 1975 and 1976, Idaho senator Frank Church held a series of hearings to investigate the covert activities of the U.S. government concerning the alleged assassinations of five prominent political figures in the Third World. The assassinations (four out of five of which were successful) spanned the years from 1960 to 1970 and took place from the Caribbean to Central Africa and Southeast Asia. In the 1960s, Guevara was expanding his revolutionary activities globally, using Cuba as his base of operations. At this point, the international situation was tense, with the major powers of the world on the proverbial edge. “The Cubans even went so far as to develop an informal Ministry of Exporting Revolution headed by Guevara, who traveled from the Congo to Bolivia to assist fellow insurgents. Revolutions broke out in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Colombia, and Nicaragua, to name only a few of the major cases. Che announced the famous goal of creating “100 Vietnams” to challenge the U.S. armed forces.” (210)

In conclusion, even at the end of his life, Guevara still believed that his spirit would one day reignite the revolution in Latin America. However, his overreaching idealism and large spending on costly conflicts caused the Cuban economy to go downward and isolate the nation from the global market. However, Guevara made a series of revolutionary gains in his early years, from opposing dictatorship to combating American expansionism. But in the end, he ignored the needs and principles of himself and others, causing his downfall.

Work Cited

Che Guevara and the CIA in the Mountains of Bolivia. (2020, October 09). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba-intelligence/2020-10-09/che-guevara-cia-mountains-bolivia

Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence : A History with Primary Sources, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, chapter 8

Wood, James A. and Anna Rose Alexander, editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5^th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019

The Cold War was a time of geopolitical tensions in which the Soviet Union and the United States battled for dominance. America attempted to limit the spread of communism and socialist ideals throughout the world “orienting people and nations toward the free world” (Problems, 246). America pushed this agenda through covert operations, propaganda campaigns, espionage, embargoes and other indirect means. Many regions fell victim to the battle between the 2 superpowers. Latin America being one of them where America and the Soviet Union battled it out for influence in countries such as Brazil, Cuba, Chile, and Paraguay.

Starting in 1964 America implemented an anticommunist strategy in Chile known as the Scare Campaign, this was done to limit the spread of socialist leaders and their ideals and to protect democracy. America tried to stop Salvador Allende from being elected President in Chile for six years due to his socialist views, fearing this would give the Soviet Union influence in Latin America. This document is a memo from Henry Kissinger to president Nixon and it reveals Americas efforts to undermine Allende after he is elected president of Chile in 1970. In the memo Kissinger suggests three ways to deal with Allende’s presidency which could cause “serious threats” to Americas interest in Latin America. Kissinger stated that under Allende and his ideals, Chile could become a part of the Soviet Union and a “leader of opposition” to the American system of democracy.  I found it interesting to read an actual memo from Kissinger that displays Americas agenda to limit the spread of communism in Latin America during the Cold War. The urgency in the tone of Kissinger’s writing in the memo exhibits the real fear most American officials had at the time of communism spreading in the western hemisphere.

Wood, James A., and Anna Rose Alexander. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5th ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central. (Ch X, Pg. 242-252)

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/dc.html?doc=7281124-National-Security-Archive-Doc-1-The-White-House