The Impact of the Cold War on United States-Latin American Relations, 1945?1949

Abstract

For at least three decades after the end of World War II, the “Cold War” was the pervasive feature of international politics. That it vitally affected and at times dominated the foreign policies of its major participants as well as the less powerful nations is clear. This essay is an attempt to describe and to determine the impact of the early Cold War on United States-Latin American relations. It is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the Latin American policy of the United States at the time; that subject would require a work of much greater scope. It was clear by 1949 that Latin America was a Cold War arena, although not a central theater of action. By that time, there had emerged an inter-American collective defense treaty and a formal organization to implement it. Not until 1945, however, when serious problems with the Soviet Union were apparent, did United States policymakers begin to accept the need for such agreements. While both the Latin American nations and the United States favored a more formal structure for the inter-American system after World War II, they had different objectives. Increasingly after the war's end, the Cold War influenced policy decisions in Washington.