Suchergebnisse

Despitethe global turn in Cold War scholarship, the dialogue between U.S. diplomaticand Latin American historians has remained limited. With In From the Cold, editors Gilbert Joseph and Daniela Spenser haveassembled new scholarship that seeks to make that connection. The result is afine collection that shifts us away from traditional crisis-driven analysis andreveals the agency of Latin Americans in shaping their Cold War. Following anintroduction by Joseph and a fascinating essay on truth commissions and LatinAmerican memory by Thomas Blanton, Spenser offers the first case study with herchapter on the impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Drawing upon U.S., Soviet, and Cuban documents, she arguesthat "the Caribbean crisis was a watershed for Soviet policy concerning Latin America" (p. 77).

Scholars have often depicted Jimmy Carter's human rights policy as naïve and counterproductive. In doing so, many have pointed to Guatemala, where Carter's policies seemed to alienate the military government without ending its abuses. Yet such critics have failed to acknowledge the obstacles Carter's policy faced as well as its long‐term influence on U.S. policy and on Guatemala itself. Drawing upon recently declassified documents, this article explores the challenges the administration's human rights advocates encountered in their attempt to implement Carter's policies. In particular, it emphasizes the resistance of both the U.S. government bureaucracy and Guatemala's military. But it also argues that, despite these difficulties, the Carter administration achieved a shift in U.S.‐Guatemalan relations. The legacy of Carter's human rights policy limited Washington's role in the counterinsurgency war and helped push Guatemala toward civilian rule and peace negotiations.