Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War: Crisis and Containment, 1944–1948

by Edited by Leslie Bethell , Ian Roxborough

• ISBN13: 9780521574259
• ISBN10: 0521574250
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-02-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This volume aims to establish that the period between the end of the Second World War II and the beginning of the Cold War (1944-5 to 1947-8) hitherto neglected, represents an important conjuncture in the political and social history of twentieth-century Latin America. Despite differences in political regime, different levels of economic and social development, and different relations with the regional hegemony. There are striking similarities in the experiences of most of the Latin American republics at this time, which can be divided into two phases. The first, coinciding with the Allied victory, was characterized by democratization, a shift to the Left, and labor militancy. In the second phase, coinciding with the onset of the Cold War, labor was disciplined by the State and often excluded from politics, communist parties were severely repressed, reformist 'progressive' parties moved to the right, and the democratic advance was contained, when not reversed. The opportunity for social democracy was lost.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	vii	(2)
Preface	ix
Introduction: The postwar conjuncture in Latin America: democracy, labor, and the Left	1	(32)
Leslie Bethell
Ian Roxborough
1 Brazil	33	(33)
Leslie Bethell
2 Chile	66	(26)
Andrew Barnard
3 Argentina	92	(28)
Mario Rapoport
4 Bolivia	120	(27)
Laurence Whitehead
5 Venezuela	147	(23)
Steve Ellner
6 Peru	170	(20)
Nigel Haworth
7 Mexico	190	(27)
Ian Roxborough
8 Cuba	217	(26)
Harold Sims
9 Nicaragua	243	(37)
Jeffrey Gould
10 Costa Rica	280	(20)
Rodolfo Cerdas Cruz
11 Guatemala	300	(27)
James Dunkerley
Conclusion: The postwar conjuncture in Latin America and its consequences	327	(8)
Leslie Bethell
Ian Roxborough
Index	335