How did the Cold War affect Latin America?

Why did the United States get

involved?
During the Cold War, the US and USSR were global superpowers. They were both
competing with each other and they wanted the other countries on their side. If the
country were communist, then the Soviets allied with them and if they were democratic,
then the US sided with the. Despite whether or not they were communist, the leaders in
LA were extremely ruthless and cruel. The US constantly tried to get these countries to
join their side.
What is the difference between left and right wing? And why is it confusing?
Left wings are the liberals. They think that the people should play a huge part in the
government and have a say in things. They also believe that citizens should have help
with things like health care. Right wings are conservative and theyre a smaller group.
They think that fewer people or only one should make the decisions. They also think that
the government shouldn't have to help and the people need more responsiblity 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?
The US was involved with the sugar production in Cuba because they owned a lot of it.
Many Cuban people were poor because the money was either going to the US or to the
corrupt Cuban government. Fidel Castro overthrew Batista and Cuba became a
communist country. Since the United States hated communism, Cuba became a US
enemy. They refused to trade and all relations were ended. Castro put a censorship on
Cuba, but made education and medicine better.
Whats a banana republic?
A banana republic is a county that has a government that is basically powerless or is
controlled by a business for the purpose of producing and exporting a good which are
normally bananas. Guatemala was made this type of country by the US in the 1900s
because the United Fruit Company had control of the only major railroad, port and
telegraphs. Their government did whatever the UFC told them.
How did the CIA get involved in Guatemala?
In 1954, the CIA helped overthrow Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. Guzman was the dictator of
Guatemala. He made a lot of communist reforms and since the US hated communism,
they didnt like that. This created a lot of violence under the military leaders. They are
now democratic, but they still blame the US for a lot of the violence.
What is the other infamous September 11th?

Augusto Pinochet over threw Salvador Allende who was a Socialist leader. This was
backed by the US and it took place on September 11, 1973. Pinochet took over but after
this, a lot of people had their human rights violated. Many were killed and tortured. He
gave up his power in 1990 and a democratically elected leader took over.
Who were the disappeared in Argentina?
After a depression hit in Argentina, they created an authoritarian government.
Argentina previously was making their money from meat production. Juan Pern came
into power after WWII and he supported the Dirty War. The government killed at least
30,000 people who disagreed with the government. Theyre called the disappeared
because they were talked out of their homes and off the streets and no one ever heard
from them again. Perns wife was popular and widely liked. She was a distraction from
the things that the Pern was doing.
Why was it controversial when the United States intervened in Nicaragua?
When Nicaragua became close with Cuba, the USSR and started heading towards the
idea of communism, the US started supporting a different group. The Contras were
fighting Nicaragua for power and the US sent them weapons until congress told
President Reagan that they could no longer support them. Reagan didnt stop sending
weapons though. Instead, he would send them to Iran who would send them to the
Contras. This is known as the Iran-Contra affair.
What violence occurred in Brazil and El Salvador?
Just like Argentina, Brazil became a dictatorship after the Great Depression. Getlio
Vargas was a dictator and he turned Brazil into a fascist state. Fascism is a conservative
government to the extreme. When he was in power, the poor lived in slumps which were
also known as favelos. This was until 1945 and then they slowly went back to a
democracy. In 1979, there was a civil war in El Salvador between the conservatives and
the liberals. The United States supported the right wings, When the war ended, 75,000
people had been killed. They signed a peace treaty in 1992.
If democracy is a goal of the L.A. nations, what does a nation have to have in
orfer to achieve this goal?
The Latin American governments are extremely weak and they have a long way to go
until they can become democratic. There have been countless times where leaders
violated human rights and many people have been killed. These countries should start
off by getting rid of dictatorships. They need to do this because its obvious that the
people are too power hungry and cant handle having power. If they started a
government system like the US it would help because not one power would have power.
Free elections are also a good idea because it shows what the people want. Altogether, a
country needs to have free elections so that the people can have a say and a government
ruled by more than one person.