America's backyard: the United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror

The United States has shaped Latin American history, condemning it to poverty and inequality by intervening to protect the rich and powerful. America's Backyard tells the story of that intervention. Using newly declassified documents, Grace Livingstone reveals the US role in the darkest periods of Latin American history, including Pinochet's coup in Chile, the Contra War in Nicaragua and the death squads in El Salvador

Introduction -- The Monroe Doctrine to the Second World War -- The Cold War : the Guatemalan coup and the Cuban Revolution -- The Alliance for Progress -- The military governments of the 1970s -- Reagan and the Central American tragedy -- The end of the Cold War, 1989-2001 -- George W. Bush and the 'War on Terror' -- Why US drugs policy doesn't work -- Money, multinationals and misery -- Coca-Cola, cartoons and caricature -- Postscript -- Appendix A: US military interventions in Latin America in the twentieth century -- Appendix B: Latin American dictators who took training courses at the School of the Americas.

The United States has shaped Latin American history, condemning it to poverty and inequality by intervening to protect the rich and powerful. America's Backyard tells the story of that intervention. Using newly declassified documents, Grace Livingstone reveals the US role in the darkest periods of Latin American history, including Pinochet's coup in Chile, the Contra War in Nicaragua and the death squads in El Salvador