18 - Backyard [1954-1990] - The Cold War in Latin America: Revolutionary Struggle and Hemispheric Intervention

The Cuban Revolution and the Challenge to American Hegemony

• Revolutionary Origins: In the late 1950s, Fidel Castro and a small band of Cuban guerrillas initiated a revolution that challenged the United States' long-standing desire to control the Western Hemisphere.
• Initial Perspectives: At the time, participants felt naive, believing in an international order where the sovereignty of nations would be respected and international principles upheld, rather than viewing events strictly through the lens of the Cold War.
• US Perception: The United States perceived Castro's nationalism and left-wing policies as a "Trojan horse" for Soviet communism.
• Shift in Regional Relations: Prior to the Cuban Revolution, the US viewed Latin America as a distant, exotic continent with virtually no relations. The revolution transformed this perception.
• Historical Context of US Intervention: From its birth in $1776$, the US expanded its influence; where its flag did not fly, its troops or agents frequently intervened.

The 1954 Guatemalan Coup: Operation PB Success

• Economic Conflict: In the 1950s, Guatemala challenged the United Fruit Company of Boston, which controlled the railroad, the port, telecommunications, and half a million acres of land. Most Guatemalan peasants lived in extreme poverty.
• Jacobo Arbenz: Elected president in $1950$. While a former military man and not a communist, Arbenz sought to modernize Guatemala's society. Some of his close allies were communists.
• Land Reform: Arbenz initiated a program to buy fallow land to distribute to peasants.
  • Compensation Conflict: He offered landowners the values they had declared for taxes.
  • The United Fruit Dispute: The United Fruit Company was offered just over $1,000,000$. Backed by the US, the company claimed the land was worth $16,000,000$.
• US Diplomatic Intervention:
  • Ambassador John Purifoy: Named to Guatemala due to his experience fighting communist efforts in Greece. He told Arbenz the problem was not United Fruit, but the communists in the government.
  • The Dulles Brothers: Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (whose law firm acted for United Fruit) and CIA head Allen Dulles persuaded President Eisenhower to authorize a coup.
• The Propaganda Campaign: US Secretary of State Dulles urged the Americas to outlaw international communist intervention, characterizing nationalism as one of communism's tools.
• Operation PB Success:
  • Nature of the Campaign: A CIA-managed terror campaign designed to paralyze the population and Arbenz's troops. Participants compared the intended effect to the German Stuka bombers in World War II.
  • Execution: Guatemala City was strafed from the air, and rebels invaded from Honduras. The US denied responsibility, framing it as a "revolt of Guatemalans against Guatemalans."
• Aftermath: Arbenz was driven into exile. $9,000$ supporters were arrested, many jailed for years without trial. Anti-communist committees were established where people could name "loyalists" who were subsequently kidnapped or killed.

The Rise of Revolutionary Sentiment and the Bay of Pigs

• Che Guevara's Epiphany: Ernesto "Che" Guevara, an Argentine doctor present in Guatemala during the coup, was embittered by the interruption of what he viewed as a moderate, necessary land reform.
• Cuban Consolidation: Five years after Guatemala's coup, Castro and Guevara triumphed in Cuba, establishing a regime $90$ miles from Florida that eventually allied with the Soviet Union.
• Bay of Pigs (1961):
  • The Plan: President John F. Kennedy inherited a CIA scheme to use an army of exiles to overthrow Castro, reassembling the "PB Success" team (the Guatemala operational team).
  • Failure: Castro's forces routed the invasion at the Bay of Pigs, securing his leadership and making him a hero to millions in Cuba.
• US Reaction - Counterinsurgency: The US established a sophisticated school in the Panama Canal Zone to train counterinsurgency forces. By the early 1960s, left-wing groups were fighting in Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.
• Dominican Republic (1965): US Marines intervened under President Lyndon B. Johnson to prevent "another communist government" when Dominicans tried to restore an elected president.

Che Guevara and the Theory of Global Revolution

• The Soviet Stance: Under Brezhnev (beginning $1964$), the USSR adhered to "peaceful coexistence" and detente.
• The Cuban Theory: Guevara called for "a hundred Vietnams," advocating for violent revolution across the globe.
• Guevara’s Final Missions: He traveled to the Congo and then to South America.
• Death in Bolivia (1967): US-trained Bolivian troops set a trap for Guevara. He was captured alive and shot dead hours later.

The Allende Era in Chile: Reform and Destabilization

• Salvador Allende's Election (1970): Leader of the Unidad Popular (Popular Unity) coalition. A Marxist, doctor, and freemason, Allende represented socialist change through legitimate elections.
• US Economic and Military Interference:
  • Corporate Influence: ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph) expressed grave concern over its investments and offered to assist the US government financially in plans to protect private assets.
  • CIA Sabotage: General Rene Schneider, the army commander defending Allende's constitutional rights, was targeted for removal. The CIA provided $750,000$ to plotters. Schneider was eventually assassinated by other plotters, which paradoxically consolidated Allende's victory initially.
  • Clandestine Operations: CIA money was smuggled in, sometimes hidden in riding boots in the form of "sausages" (long strips of bills).
• Social Reform and Nationalization:
  • Copper: Allende nationalized the copper industry (then under US control) to alleviate poverty.
  • Social Measures: He implemented social revolutions, such as providing a daily glass of milk to school children.
• Economic Warfare: The World Bank and other international organizations, under US influence, cut off credits to Chile.
• Internal Strife: Inflation rose, and CIA-funded truck owners' strikes paralyzed the country. The extreme left became hostile to Allende's democratic methods while the right plotted a coup.

The 1973 Coup in Chile

• The Military Intervention: On September 11, $1973$, under General Augusto Pinochet, British-made Hunter jets bombed the Moneda Presidential Palace.
• Death of Allende: Allende died in the palace, refusing to be taken alive and vowing to defend the constitution.
• Repression under Pinochet:
  • National Stadium: Suspects were rounded up in the national stadium.
  • Victor Hara: The famous folk singer was beaten, had his hands/wrists broken, and was killed after two days of captivity.
  • US Perspective: Some US observers later claimed the use of force was necessary to "straighten out" the country completely.

The Nicaraguan Revolution and the Sandinista Victory

• The Somoza Dynasty: Since the 1930s, the US-backed Somoza family (notably Tacho Somoza) ruled Nicaragua.
• Uprising: The murder of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, a moderate newspaper owner, by Somoza forces in the late 1970s triggered widespread anger.
• The Sandinistas: Named after the 1930s rebel Sandino, the guerrillas (FSLN) eventually took the cities.
• Victory (1979): The Sandinistas triumphed in Managua.
• Jimmy Carter's Diplomacy: Carter attempted a human rights-based foreign policy, though he was criticized for being late to abandon Somoza. The Sandinistas viewed the US as "the enemy of humanity" due to historical damage.

The Reagan Era: The Contra War and El Salvador

• Reagan’s Perspective: President Ronald Reagan viewed Central America through a "priority target list" or "hit list," fearing a Caribbean "domino theory" where pro-Soviet regimes would take over.
• Nicaragua and the Contras:
  • Formation: The Contras consisted of former Somoza National Guard members and mountainous peasants. They were funded by Washington to overthrow the Sandinistas.
  • Boland Amendment: US Congress passed legislation to curtail Reagan’s funds for arming the Contras.
  • Mining of Corinto: The US mined Nicaragua's only major harbor to destroy its oil stock and disrupt the economy.
  • Soviet/Cuban Role: The USSR politely denied most Sandinista requests for heavy weapons to avoid provoking the US further, though Cuba provided advisors.
• El Salvador's Civil War:
  • Massacres: The military had a history of violence, including a massacre of $40,000$ in $1932$.
  • Archbishop Oscar Romero: A leader for human rights who was murdered in March $1980$ by an assassin while saying mass. His funeral was also attacked by the military.
  • Murder of US Churchwomen: On December 3, $1980$, four US churchwomen were raped and killed by the National Guard.
  • US Aid: Despite these atrocities, the US resumed and continued funding the Salvadorian military.
  • El Mozote Massacre ($1981$): The US-trained Atlacatl Brigade slaughtered hundreds of civilians. The US State Department initially claimed it could find no evidence of the massacre.

The Invasion of Grenada and the Iran-Contra Scandal

• Grenada ($1983$): Following the assassination of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop by extreme Marxists, the US launched a joint force invasion to prevent a suspected strategic airport project involving Cuban contractors. The US did not consult Great Britain, despite Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state.
• Iran-Contra: Reagan’s administration secretly sold arms to Iran to fund the Contras after Congress prohibited direct assistance via the Boland Amendment.
• The Costs of the Cold War:
  • Death Tolls: In Nicaragua alone, an estimated $50,000$ died in the revolution and another $50,000$ in the subsequent civil war.
  • 1990 Nicaraguan Election: Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas were defeated in a surprise victory by Violetta Chamorro. The US spent nearly $10,000,000$ backing her campaign.

Questions & Discussion

• Question (Audience/Narrator): Was there a Soviet Cuban master plan for Central America?
• Answer (Participant): If such a plan existed, the Soviets would have won the Cold War. In reality, Cuba’s actions often conflicted with Soviet interests, and the USSR was often reluctant to provide the level of military aid requested by revolutionary governments like the Sandinistas.
• Question (Narrator): What was the motivation behind US intervention?
• Answer (US Representative): To stop communist regimes from being established in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. He argues that without US intervention, the "immediate suffering could have even been considerably greater."
• Question (Narrator): How did the local population feel about the US intervention?
• Answer (Latin American Participant): They saw it as an intervention against citizens who simply wanted a democratic country with social justice. The Cold War cost Latin America hundreds of thousands of lives through "atrocious" suffering and massive population movements.