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Requiem for Revolution: The United States and Brazil, 1961-1969
An examination of the Brazilian revolution of 1964 which was not the revolutionary effort that Kennedy had sought. Yet it bore an American, anti-communist imprint. When the president was overthrown, Washington embraced the new regime and gave generous support throughout the 1960s.
329 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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April 2, 2019
An excellent examination of cold war "New Frontier" era policy in Latin America, and specifically on troubled Brazil. Professor Leacock records John F. Kennedy's high moral tone in announcing the Alliance for Progress, his new Good Neighbor Policy designed to thwart the rising appeals of Castroism and, by extension, communism in the Western Hemisphere.
The result was unfortunately predictable: paranoia over communism trumped liberal and social democracy. The concerns of US business toned down the initial highblown idealism; fears of neutralism gripped Washington as opening the door to "more Castros." Thus the CIA, and its well-subsidized offshoots in Brazilian labor and business, went to work sabotaging populist presidents Quadros and Goulart: and with them, Brazilian democracy itself. The result was a ruthless military regime, inventor of the modern death squad and national security state, setting the "standard" for torture and murder in South America for decades.
This is bitterly ironic when one considers the official reason for cold war anti-communism: the protection of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Washington policy makers, and Brazilian elites, decided that democracy is safe and a nation "worthy" of it only when in the hands of the "right people." Otherwise, these principles are of no inherent value and may be discarded for reasons of state. Brazil and its people were expendable. The additional casualty was the US' moral posture as "defender of Hemispheric freedom," losing all credibility to preach democracy to enemies while overseeing its destruction among allies. A cold war-era lesson in hypocrisy that totalitarians in Washington still seek to keep locked in the Orwellian memory hole.
The result was unfortunately predictable: paranoia over communism trumped liberal and social democracy. The concerns of US business toned down the initial highblown idealism; fears of neutralism gripped Washington as opening the door to "more Castros." Thus the CIA, and its well-subsidized offshoots in Brazilian labor and business, went to work sabotaging populist presidents Quadros and Goulart: and with them, Brazilian democracy itself. The result was a ruthless military regime, inventor of the modern death squad and national security state, setting the "standard" for torture and murder in South America for decades.
This is bitterly ironic when one considers the official reason for cold war anti-communism: the protection of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Washington policy makers, and Brazilian elites, decided that democracy is safe and a nation "worthy" of it only when in the hands of the "right people." Otherwise, these principles are of no inherent value and may be discarded for reasons of state. Brazil and its people were expendable. The additional casualty was the US' moral posture as "defender of Hemispheric freedom," losing all credibility to preach democracy to enemies while overseeing its destruction among allies. A cold war-era lesson in hypocrisy that totalitarians in Washington still seek to keep locked in the Orwellian memory hole.
Displaying 1 of 1 review