Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

In from the Cold: Latin America’s New Encounter with the Cold War

2009; Duke University Press; Volume: 89; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1215/00182168-2009-044

1527-1900

Gregory Weeks,

Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America

The Cold War in Latin America continues to be a major topic of analysis in many academic disciplines, made all the more enticing because new information is constantly emerging. In from the Cold asks us to look beyond the opening of new archives, testimonies, interviews, and declassified documents and instead to reconsider the conflict itself. For many years, scholars have viewed Latin America as caught between two great powers in a largely reactive position that left little space for autonomous action. The chapters in the book aim, as Gilbert Joseph writes, “to transcend frayed, dichotomizing paradigms of interpretation that themselves appear to be artifacts of the conflict” (p. 17).This is a refreshing approach, since it is easy to be lulled into a sense that the Cold War is already well defined. The chapters are of a uniformly high quality even if, at times, characterized by a bit of overreach. Regardless, given the array of authors, the book would be a very useful addition to a number of different courses, and its challenge to the status quo should spark probing discussions of precisely how to understand the nature of the Cold War in Latin America.That there are several chapters on Mexico is a welcome corrective, since it is an ambiguous case. Seth Fein’s chapter on United States Information Service efforts to feed Cold War propaganda to Mexicans through newsreels in the 1950s (known as Project Pedro) reveals how frustrated U.S. officials became when they were forced to filter their messages according to Mexican government dictates and local tastes. Triumphant assertions of “propaganda impact of 1,643,540 persons per week” (p. 184) were outweighed by the Mexican government’s refusal to allow extensive negative reporting on Cuba. Piero Gleijeses also reminds us that Cuba was no Soviet pawn. Indeed, the Soviets were often exasperated by Fidel Castro’s failure to toe the line, and Cuban guerrillas evinced an idealism that surprised those they fought alongside. They considered themselves not as bit actors in a great power drama, but as messengers of a better way of living.Victoria Langland offers an excellent chapter on Brazil in 1968, examining the gendered side of political conflict. The participation of young women in radical politics was deemed a threat to the state more for cultural than ideological reasons. Even for men, introspection about gender relations sparked a challenge to prevailing norms. As one male activist said, “I decided that having trysts with the maids was counterrevolutionary” (p. 319). That women’s role in politics was sexualized is a perfect example of how traditional analyses of the Cold War fail to adequately capture the nuances of political motivations.Yet it is still an overstatement to refer to the failed “master narratives” from conceptual “Olympian heights” (p. 29) or to “calcified historiographies” (p. 205). Indeed, many of the relevant Latin American political actors consciously viewed themselves as part of such a narrative. As Ariel Armony’s chapter on Argentina demonstrates, the military junta ended its activities in Central America when it was clear that the United States would not provide reward (as evidenced by its response to the Falklands/Malvinas war). Steven Bachelor’s analysis of striking Mexican workers in a Chrysler plant shows how the Mexican government used the excuse of Communism to repress union independence. Similarly, Stephen Pitti explains how the participation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in California labor movements sparked local fears of Communist infiltration, even though they were just tapping into traditional Mexican labor activism. At the very least, authorities used the excuse of great power rivalry (for example, activists were commonly portrayed as agents of the Soviet Union) to attack opposition leaders.The master narrative of great power rivalry is no mere invention. What this book makes clear, however, is that it was not nearly as all-encompassing as is generally argued. Daniela Spenser’s conclusion offers specific suggestions for future research, connecting the opening of archives (including, someday, those in Cuba) and personal testimonies with research questions. Those who seek to use all the new information that is coming to light would do well to consider this advice to avoid missing compelling deviations from conventional wisdom.