US public diplomacy strategies in Latin America in recent historiographical debates

This chapter is an overview of recent historiographical debate on US public diplomacy strategies in Latin America, of particular importance during the 1960s when the leadership of the United States
had been questioned after the Cuban Revolution.
The implicit mandate was “No more Cubas” so that what happened in the
Caribbean country would not spread to other countries. The actions of the United
States toward its southern neighbors in the first half of the twentieth century are
quite well known. In contrast, Latin American scenarios of the Cultural Cold War
have remained relatively less well known. The contributors and editors of this
volume examine various facets and means of action used by the “US machinery
of persuasion” with the aim of disseminating the virtues of its socioeconomic and
political model, including both public and private efforts, and the significance of
nonstate actors. Subjects examined include the impact of the theory of modernization;
anti-Americanism; the deployment of public diplomacy in the region; the activities
of the Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Rockefeller Foundation; and the
influence of these efforts on sporting, artistic, and musical events.
This volume will be of value to students and