Latin America in the Era of the Cuban Revolution

Thomas C. Wright describes and explains the extraordinary impact that the Cuban Revolution had on Latin America and on U.S.-Latin American relations during the past three decades. Wright integrates diverse and complex political events into a comprehensive and comprehensible whole--providing a broad perspective on this critical period in Latin American history. Wright does not use a country-by-country approach, but rather a unique synthesis of broadly defined trends and phases that affected significant numbers of Latin American countries and people. Among the currents examined are the destabilizing influence of fidelismo, the rise of rural and urban guerrilla warfare, the Alliance for Progress, the growth of U.S. military involvement in Latin America, and the rise of terrorist military regimes. Three country-specific topics--the military revolution in Peru, the Allende government in Chile, and the Sandinista struggle in Nicaragua--are examined separately due to their universal interest and their importance to the whole of Latin America. Successfully linking the most important Latin American political developments of three decades to the pervasive influence of Fidel Castro and his revolution, Wright presents 1990 as the final year in this coherent, discrete era that most Latin American historians agree began in 1959. This text will interest university and college classes on Latin American history, Latin American politics, and revolution and reform courses, as well as professional Latin Americanists in many specializations.