Latin America in the Era of the Cuban Revolution, 2nd Edition

253 Pages·2000·1.271 MB·English

by  Thomas C. Wright

Latin America
in the Era of the
Cuban Revolution

Latin America
in the Era of the
Cuban Revolution
REVISED EDITION
Thomas C. Wright
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wright,ThomasC.
LatinAmericaintheeraoftheCubanRevolution/ThomasC.Wright.—Rev.ed.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN0–275–96705–0(alk.paper)—ISBN0–275–96706–9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. LatinAmerica—Politicsandgovernment—1948– 2. Cuba—History—Revolution,
1959—Influence. 3. Radicalism—LatinAmerica—History—20thcentury. 4.
Violence—LatinAmerica—History—20thcentury. 5. UnitedStates—Militarypolicy.
I. Title.
F1414.2.W75 2001
980.03'3—dc21 99–059654
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:1)2001byThomasC.Wright
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,without
theexpresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:99–059654
ISBN:0–275–96705–0
0–275–96706–9(pbk.)
Firstpublishedin2001
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.praeger.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TM
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
for Dina, again

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Cuban Revolution and Latin America xi
1. Fidel Castro’s Road to Power, 1952–1959 1
2. Cuba: The Making of a Revolution 21
3. Fidelismo and the Radicalization of Latin American Politics 39
4. U.S. Responses to Revolution 57
5. Rural Guerrilla Warfare 73
6. Urban Guerrilla Warfare 93
7. The Peruvian Military Revolution, 1968–1975 111
8. Chile under Allende: A Peaceful Road to Socialism? 129
9. The Antirevolutionary Military Regimes 149
10. The Nicaraguan Revolution 165
11. Transitions of the 1990s 187
Selected Bibliography 207
Index 227

Acknowledgments
This book owes much to many friends and colleagues.JamesKohl,Rob-
ertJ.Alexander,JohnSuper,ThomasWalker,thelateE.BradfordBurns,
Joseph A. Fry, Catherine Zubel, and Daniel Barber read the manuscript
ofthefirsteditionandofferedinvaluablecritiques.MarionSumnersand
Jamie Coughtry also provided essential aid, as did the Center for Ad-
vanced Research, College of Liberal Arts of the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas. Randy Hale prepared the maps. My sincere thanks go to all
the above.
I am indebted to Kirk Bowman, Monica Barczak, and Garry Leechfor
their insights into Latin America in the 1990s, which strengthened the
revised edition. I am extremely grateful to Dina Titus for her support
and encouragement of the project and for her keen reading of both edi-
tions. Finally, I wishtoacknowledgethemanystudentswhohavetaken
my course ‘‘Revolution and Reaction in Contemporary Latin America’’
over the years, and who listened to and critiqued the ideas that emerge
in the following pages.