SOUTH AMERICA
By: Samuel Mancera, Tomas Luzardo, Juan Andres Lopez & Pablo Hoyos
BRAZIL
CHILE
ARGENTINA
CONFLICT: The military dictatorship in Chile was a dictatorial regime headed by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, which began on September 11, 1973, and ended on March 11, 1990. This led to the USA interference in 1975 with a plan called Condor Operation which promoted the dictatorships in countries like Chile, where they wanted to avoid Left political parties.
CONFLICT: Brazil was suffering from a military dictatorship that started in 1964 with Joao Goulart which was supported by the United States' Condor Plan. This dictatorship ended in 1985 when José Sarney was the first elected president in Brazil's history, following the fall of the dictatorships in other South American countries
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DETAILS
In this scenario, Chilean society became politicized and ideological disputes between the two sides intensified.
Rather at the end of the war, the soviet union's fall, affected communist parties all around the world, so a new period started in Chile where socialism was the key to its evolution to a new democratic system
Left parties struggled in Chile, and most of their supporters started eyeing the armed fights in Central America to found "Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodriguez" (FPMR)
El impacto de la Guerra Fría en Chile - Memoria Chilena. (2022). Retrieved 2 March 2022, from http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-3460.html
During the Cold war, Operation Condor led to the assassination of governers from Allende's administration, like the minister Orlando Letellier in 1976. This was all known after Pinochet's arrest in 1998 after the end of the cold war.
The assassinations of General René Schneider (1970) by military groups and, from the other point of politicization, that of former Interior Minister Edmundo Pérez Zujovic (1971) at the hands of the extremist group Vanguardia Organizada el Pueblo (People's Organized Vanguard).
USA were trying to overcome the soviet union, and they wanted left politics to be abolished in South America, in this way they indirectly financed the deaths of many political figures which in Chile were Letelier and General Carlos Prats in different attacks.
Tremlett, G., 2020. Operation Condor: the cold war conspiracy that terrorised South America. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/sep/03/operation-condor-the-illegal-state-network-that-terrorised-south-america [Accessed 2 March 2022].
At that time, the U.S. government was competing with the Soviet Union to impose its political system. For this reason, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) financed a coup d'état against Allende as a result of the condor plan.The operation allowed intelligence or armed forces operatives from the various participating countries to move freely in each other's territory in order to kidnap, disappear or assassinate their fellow citizens.
Pinochet came to power overthrowing Allende's government in a coupe d'etat with the chilean military that killed Salvador Allende, which preferred to die before giving his power away.
Though being in a consistent battle with the Soviet Union, the United States took advantage of the situation of the dictatorships in Latin America and decided to support Pinochet's decisions in his years at power.
La Vanguardia. 2016. Golpe militar en Chile contra Salvador Allende. [online] Available at: https://www.lavanguardia.com/hemeroteca/20130911/54380173263/golpe-militar-chile-salvador-allende-augusto-pinochet-dictaduras-latinoamerica.html [Accessed 2 March 2022].
CONFLICT: The United States wanted to prevent the expansion of Soviet communism at any cost during the Cold War. That is why during the Argentine coup d'état to the Peronist government, the United States, through Washington, supported the commanders of the three armed forces, Jorge Rafael Videla, Emilio Massera and Orlando Agosti (Military Junta) to overthrow the constitutional government of María Estela Martínez de Perón, influenced by Soviet communism, who assumed the presidency after the death of General Juan Domingo Perón.
DETAILS
We can see how during the course of the cold war, more exactly in 1973, Argentina would begin with its own recovery of democracy, here it was evident how it had such influences from other countries, but in 1976 this self-styled dictatorship of National Reorganization would be established.
(2022). Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/notes/2009/N2916.pdf
During the history of Argentina (1963-1983) a marked political instability was evidenced, the imposition of long-term dictatorships and certain acts of violence in the framework of the Cold War (1947-1991) we can see how the government handed over the civilians without conditions, establishing a broad consensus in respecting the democracy established within the country, due to this the coupe d'etat in Argentine were over.
In relation with the adaptation argentine have in the cold war we could see how the country consider great britain as its first economic Allie only during the first 3 years of the peronist Governemnt
2022). Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/2515124
Juan Domingo Perón
During the first government of the former military man Juan Domingo Perón, the first moves were made in relation to the Cold War. While most countries cut relations with the Soviet Union, Peron's administration reestablished relations with the Moscow government that were cut since the time of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
U.S. government had hit the Argentine economy through the Marshall Plan implemented as of January 1, 1948 through the Economic Cooperation Association (ECA)
Even thought the formal president of Argentina endorsed the Rio de Janeiro Pact, Juan Domingo Perón did not grant military bases to the Americans, nor did it submit to Washington's dictates through the OAS.
USSR offered Argentina industrial products from the German Democratic Republic, such as trucks and airplanes, plus support in the diplomatic claims for sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands in exchange for the liberation of the South Atlantic for fishing.
Gilbert, I. (2017, May 11). Guerra Fría a la argentina. Clarín. https://www.clarin.com/revista-enie/ideas/guerra-fria-argentina_0_ry_YDQzxZ.htm
DETAILS
During this period of time also the military dictaruship led to an end. In the same way also the peronism ban period wich basically contributed to the country becouse there were the first free eleccions at the country
In the same way we could see how in relation with this cold war Argentine was the first south America country that during that time it established diplomatic relations with the USSR
More focused in 1976 we could see how the military forces fight against the government established at thoose years
Differencing from the other Latin American countries, Brazil did not see as much benefit from the Condor Plan, or it was thought, and eventually gained much of its popularity because of the "Brazilian Economic Miracle".
All of this happened in 1970 where the economic assistance received from the Condor Plan was used to develop the economy of the country and made them gain part of the people that were against the military dictatorship
However, that was lost under the regime of Ernesto Geisel in 1974, and it pulled back all the popularity gained, creating political debacles.
Barrucho, L., 2018. Cuán real fue el "milagro económico" del gobierno militar en Brasil - BBC News Mundo. [online] BBC News Mundo. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-46583146 [Accessed 2 March 2022].
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Humberto Alencar Castelo Branco institutionalized his power through the "Institutional Act No. 2". In addition, with this he legalized the actions of the military against the civilian population, the suppression of parties and the closing of legislative chambers.
The U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Lincoln Gordon, expressed his rejection of Goulart's policies and sent to the White House a report entitled "Contingency Plan for Brazil", in which he detailed that the influence of Soviet communism would provoke a leftist revolt in the country. Three and a half months after receiving this text, the coup d'état took place.
Under the pretext of preserving the constitutional order, the general of the Brazilian Army, Mourão Filho, advanced towards Rio de Janeiro with his troops and other generals. For its part, the U.S. sent numerous planes, warships and four oil tankers to make way for operation "Brother Sam".
Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Político. (2014, November). Argentina y Estados Unidos, golpe a golpe (1966–1976). Repositorio Institucional CONICET Digital. https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/11521
was a military operation by the United States Armed Forces to logistically support the 1964 coup d'état in Brazil to ensure a positive outcome for U.S. interests. The U.S. Embassy in Brazil offered support to the coup plotters at the same time it received news of the military uprising against the government of President Joao Goulart.
¿Cómo fue el golpe de Estado contra João Goulart en Brasil?. (2022). Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://www.telesurtv.net/news/brasil-golpe-militar-joao-goulart-intervencion-eeuu-20180330-0037.html
The United States, in order to put an end to socialist and communist governments in Latin America, created Operation Condor.
Costa e Silva's presidency was marked by a decrease in repression of civil society and an increase in social mobilization against the government.
Costa e Silva applied Institutional Act No. 5, according to which the 1966 constitution was suspended. In addition, demonstrations were prohibited, political trials were carried out by the military and torture was institutionalized.
government repression was marked by torture rather than the assassinations or disappearances of the Argentine case. Similarly, it is estimated that between 1964 and 1966, more than 800 people were expelled from government and military bodies.
Los Archivos del Horror del OperativoCóndor. (2022). Retrieved 2 March 2022, from http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/doc/condor/calloni.html