Richard Nixon in Hopes and Prospects
On Foreign Policy:
1971: Control Latin America as model for rest of world
Control of Latin America was the earliest goal of US foreign policy, and remains a central one, partly for resources and markets, but also for broader ideological reasons. If the US could not control Latin America, it could not expect "to achieve a
successful order elsewhere in the world," Nixon's National Security Council concluded in 1971 while considering the paramount importance of destroying Chilean democracy. Analysts concluded that Allende "threatened American global interests by challenging
the whole ideological basis of American Cold War policy. It was the threat of a successful socialist state in Chile that could provide a model for other nations that caused concern and led to American opposition."The internal record makes it clear
that throughout the Cold War, a primary concern of US policy makers has been what Oxfam called "the threat of a good example," referring to Washington's dedication to destroying Nicaraguan democracy and independence in the 1980s.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p. 37
Jun 1, 2010
On Foreign Policy:
OpEd: Supported democracy when it fit strategic interests
The Nixon administration regarded control of Latin America as a necessary condition for establishing a "successful order elsewhere in the world," while devoting itself to barring a successful social democracy in Chile that could be a model for others.
In Nixon's own words, "Our main concern in Chile is the prospect that [Allende] can consolidate himself and the picture projected to the world will be his success. If we let the potential leaders in South American think they can move like
Chile and have it both ways, we will be in trouble. No impression should be permitted in Latin America that they can get away with this, that it's safe to go this way. All over the world it's too much the fashion to kick us around."
Even mainstream scholarship recognizes that Washington has supported democracy if and only if it contributes to strategic and economic interests, a policy that continues without change through all administrations, to the present.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p.116
Jun 1, 2010
Page last updated: Jul 19, 2011