How did the Cold War affect Latin America?

Why did the United States get

involved?
While the US and the USSR were in the Cold War, they were two global
superpowers. They asked all other nations to pick a side. If the countries they asked
were communists, they had the Soviets as an ally. If the country was democratic,
they had the US as an ally. Postcolonial Latin American governments had ruthless
and violent leaders whether they were communist or not. The US constantly tried to
push communist Latin American countries towards their side like Cuba, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, and Chile because communist meant evil to the US.
What is the difference between left and right wing? And why is it
confusing?
Left wing people are liberals. They believe that the people should have a great part
in the government and a lot of say in things. They also believe that the citizens
should have help with programs like health care. Right wing people are
conservatives and they are a very small group. Fewer people make decisions and in
extreme cases, only one person does. They think the government shouldnt have to
help people and citizens should have more responsibility. Both have their pros and
cons like businesses can either be controlled fully by the government or not
controlled at all; both could be bad or good. The US supported Latin American
countries who didnt want communism, but often found themselves supporting
ruthless dictators only because of the fact that they werent communist.
Why did the United States get involved in Cuba?
They were deeply involved in their economy and their sugar production because
they controlled all of it. Most Cubans were poor because all the money was flowing
into the US. In 1953, Batista overthrew the government, but then his government
was overthrown by Castro who was communist. Cuba became an enemy to the US.
The US refused to trade with Cuba and relations with them have been poor ever
since. He put huge censorship on Cuba, but he also helped education and medicine.
Today, he is still the leader, but because hes sick, his brother takes over. People risk
their lives every day to try to get to Florida through the water.
Whats a banana republic?
A country with a basically powerless government that is ran or controlled by a
company for the purpose of producing and exporting a good (mostly bananas). The
US made Guatemala this type of country in the early 1900s because the United
Fruit Company (UFC) controlled the only major port, railroad and telegraph wires,
and the farmland. Guatemalas government did anything the UFC told them to do.
People in the US and Europe expected bananas to be the cheapest fruit.
How did the CIA get involved in Guatemala?
The CIA helped to overthrow a dictator, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, of Guatemala in
1954. He enacted communist reforms in Guatemala and the US didnt like that. The
coup created decades of violence under military leaders called a military junta.
Guatemala began to have a democratic government in 1996, but there is still a lot
of violence in which the US is blamed for.
What is the other infamous September 11th?

With the support of the US, Augusto Pinochet overthrew Socialist leader, Salvador
Allendes, government on September 11, 1973. He took over, but under his rule,
people suffered many different human right violations. People were killed and
torture, so he gave up power in 1990 to a democratically elected leader. He was
charged with violating human rights, but he died before he could do his time.
Who were the disappeared in Argentina?
When the depression hit, Argentinians turned to authoritarian government. Before,
Argentina was making lots of money from meat production. Juan Pern took power
after World War II and he supported something called the Dirty War. His
government killed up to 30,000 people who opposed the government's views. They
were called the disappeared because they were taken out of their homes or off
the streets and never heard from again. Perns wife, Eva, was popular and she was
a pretty face. Poor workers known as the descamisados especially liked her. She was
a distraction from all the bad things that Juan was doing.
Why was it controversial when the United States intervened in Nicaragua?
One of the most controversial topics of American Cold War history was the
intervention in Nicaragua. This started when Nicaragua became close with Cuba,
the USSR, and communism in general. The US decided that instead of personally
intervening with Nicaragua, they would support a group called the Contras, who
were fighting against them for power. The US started supporting the Contras by
sending them resources such as weapons until congress said that Reagan could no
longer support them. However, that didnt stop Reagan because instead of sending
the weapons directly to the Contras, he secretly sent them to Iran who would then
send them to the Contras. This became known as the Iran-Contra affair.
What violence occurred in Brazil and El Salvador?
Brazil turned to a dictatorship after the Great Depression like Argentina. Getlio
Vargas was the dictator and eventually, he turned Brazil into a fascist state. Fascism
is the most extreme form of a conservative government. Under his rule, the poor
slept in slumps called favelos until 1945 and they slowly returned to a democracy.
There was a civil war in El Salvador in 1979 between conservatives and liberals with
the right wings having the support of the US. The war ended after 75,000 people
had been killed, but in 1992, the two sides signed a peace treaty.
If democracy is a goal of the L.A. nations, what does a nation have to have
in order to achieve this goal?
Many governments have been overthrown in Latin America. This shows how weak
their systems are and how far they need to go to become democratic. Many
dictators who have been in power in Latin America have violated human rights and
have gotten many people killed. Latin America needs to be done with having
dictators because obviously none of them can handle having such power. Having a
government system like the US would help them a lot because many people would
have power, not just one. Free elections would also help them because its clear
that the people want to have more of a say in who is running their country. I can
imagine that they are tired of fighting and just want to be more civil with

everything. Also, if Latin America continues to have dictatorships, the dictators need
to have more respect and care for their own country. All they are doing when they
kill people is destroying their own country. All in all, a nation needs to have free
elections, no dictators (or dictators who actually want to make their country good),
and a government like the US.