Introduction

Summary

Lenin was not interested in the socialist movement in Mexico. He realized it was bound to be rudimentary. But he was interested in the people of Mexico, in their relationship to the United States, in whether there was strong opposition to the United States.

Manuel Gómez (Charlie Philips) upon return from the Second Comintern, 1920

Latin America is a collection of US satellites.

Stalin, 1946

The Monroe Doctrine is dead.

Nikita Khrushchev, 1960

The Soviet attitude toward Latin America is analogous to that of the United States. It is a colonial attitude; the Soviets have respect for American power and contempt for Latin American weakness.

Herbert Dinerstein, 1968

Two decades ago there was only Cuba in Latin America, today there are Nicaragua, Grenada and a serious battle going on in El Salvador.

Marshal Ogarkov, 1983

The traditional Soviet perception of Latin America was totally determined by two key factors. First, because of the great distance between Russia and Latin America and the paucity of historical contacts, a salient feature of the Soviet perception of the continent was Moscow's inordinate ignorance concerning Latin America and its inability to comprehend fully the political dynamics of the continent. Second was the Soviet perception of the region, from Lenin on, set almost entirely in the context of Latin America's relationship with the United States.

Although the Comintern did establish its presence in Latin America as early as 1920 and supported several communist-led uprisings on the continent during the 1920s and the 1930s, Latin America was perceived by Moscow as the “strategic rear” of the United States.