The Effects of America's Involvement in South America During the Cold War Era

The time period after World War two was a dangerous time to be a third world country because of two superpowers vying for the supremacy and hegemony of the world. The two superpowers were the United States and the recently formed Soviet Union. Power is not an easy thing to share, and these two nations regarded each other with considerable mistrust and apprehension. In an attempt to increase their relative share of power each country strove to establish spheres of influence.

The United States response to the Soviet Unions attempts to expand was the policy of Containment. The basic idea behind the policy of containment was that the United States could accept the current size and number of communist states in the world, but that they wouldn't allow any other country become communist. One important area of contention during the cold war was South America. During the time period between the 60's and 80's there was a considerable amount of unrest in the South American Region. In quite a few South American countries Marxism and Communism began to enjoy popularity and in some countries communists even won free and fair elections, like the 1970 Chilean president Salvador Allenede.