The USA's Reaction to the Bolivian Revolution of 1952: Pragmatism and the Inter-American System.

LATIN America; BOLIVIA

Many historians view the Eisenhower administration's policies towards Latin America as dominated by a narrowly anti-communist mindset and based on a limited understanding of Latin American nationalism. A closer examination of the administration's relationship with Bolivia's revolutionary regime challenges this over-simplification. By nurturing Bolivian nationalism, while simultaneously pushing it towards more agreeable policy stances, the Eisenhower administration wanted to show nationalists across Latin America and beyond that there were benefits in co-operating with the USA. Appreciating the importance and power of Third-World nationalism in the post-war era, Eisenhower sought to ensure that these emerging nations remained firmly in the Western camp economically and diplomatically. In Bolivia, this effort was ultimately unsuccessful. High aid levels and co-operative policies proved insufficient to bring lasting prosperity and stability to Bolivia. Furthermore, although many officials recognised the importance of co-opting regional nationalism, growing US influence on Bolivian domestic policy served to antagonise nationalist resentment. Bolivians and the many other Latin Americans continued to feel economic hardship and neglect, and were more influenced by polarising US interventions in Guatemala and Cuba than by seemingly benevolent US policies in Bolivia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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