RSSS 224 - USSR/Russia-Latin America: Empowerment and Repression

For centuries, Latin America has attracted expansionist superpowers. In relatively recent times, Soviet penetration into the region -- which peaked during the Cold War -- affected it economically, militarily, politically, and culturally. Even today, the Russian Federation follows a course set by the USSR, gradually expanding its influence in Latin America. "USSR/Russia - Latin America: Empowerment and Repression" will investigate the complex Soviet/Russian and Latin American strings-attached camaraderie, addressing in particular how the USSR adopted a position in Latin America as a counterweight to US influence, ultimately leaving a strong historicocultural imprint on Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador, as well as (to a lesser but notable extent) on Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and other Latin American countries. Focusing on what many see as an uneven relationship, this course explores the communist superpower's goals, impacts, legacies, and cultural influences in Latin America and subsequent post-Soviet interests in the region.