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America's Backyard: The United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror
Using newly-declassified documents, Grace Livingstone reveals the U.S. role in the darkest periods of Latin American history including Pinochet's coup in Chile, the Contra War in Nicaragua and the death squads in El Salvador. She shows how the U.S. administration used the War on Terror as a new pretext for intervention and how it tried to destabilize leftwing governments and push back the 'pink tide' washing across the Americas. America's Backyard also has chapters on drugs, economy and culture. It explains why U.S. drug policy has caused widespread environmental damage, yet failed to reduce the supply of cocaine and looks at the U.S. economic stake in Latin America and the strategies of the big corporations. Today Latin Americans are demanding respect and an end to the Washington Consensus. Will the White House listen?
256 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 17, 2022
Very in-depth and well backed-up presentation of USA pseudo-imperialism in Latin America. There is just the slightest hint of anti-American bias as is common among leftist activists, but, like, it's supported by evidence and the arguments are pretty damn watertight so you can't really complain. Definitely worth a read if you want to find out just how much the US has fucked Latin America up.
December 30, 2024
So, I recently watched a documentary about Reagan. Yeah, the guy who ended the Cold War and gave people Reaganomics, which didn’t really save the economy, but at least he gave it a shot, right? Oddly enough, no one mentioned his side hustle in Latin America. But I guess that’s just too much drama for one episode. Thank God there is America’s Backyard to spill the tea on all that.
As the title perfectly suggests, the U.S. treated Latin America like their backyard, as in the place where you send the kids to run wild while the adults deal with the “real” business, but instead of kids, it’s entire countries. The U.S. meddled in Latin American politics for decades, all for their political and economic gain. Then, after wrecking entire countries, they’re like, “Wait, why are all these people trying to move here?” When things predictably went sideways, they decided, "You know what will fix this? A wall to keep the people we just screwed over from coming here." Classic.
Same deal with the War on Drugs. Instead of cleaning up their own mess with, I don’t know, the fact that Americans really like their cocaine, the U.S. decided to go all-in on crushing the poor farmers who grow coca because it’s literally their only way to make a living there. The U.S. spent billions on anti-drug programs in the 80s, but all they really managed to do was push drug production further into remote areas of Colombia and Peru, where farmers had no other crops to grow.
And now, for real - when I visited Mexico, I saw things that I won't forget. Little kids selling random stuff just to survive when they should be in school, playing or learning. I saw mothers, up at 5 a.m., setting up food stands on the street to sell all day, every day, because that’s the only way they can feed their families. Old men, who should be at home, retired and enjoying what little peace they have left, working in supermarkets for the tips people leave them—packing groceries because there’s no social benefits, no pensions, no health insurance. And just like America's Backyard mentions, these people were abandoned—not just by their employers, but by their own governments too.
But let’s not forget who kept that system alive. The U.S. had a leading role, supporting the greedy elites in these countries, making sure any attempts at reform or social justice were suppressed. They wanted to make sure Latin America stayed poor and unequal because it served their political and economic purposes. Power and money rule the world—even at the expense of human lives. And yeah, while this book shines a light on how the U.S. ruined countless lives south of the border, it also feels a bit one-sided. "U.S. bad, Latin America sad." Sure, the U.S. wasn’t exactly playing nice, but it’s not like every Latin American government was totally innocent either. Corruption and poor leadership existed long before the U.S. stepped in.
So, yeah, if you are into global power flexes and bad foreign policy decisions, America’s Backyard is the book for you. Can't wait for 2025 when Trump will "Make America Great Again” ✌️
As the title perfectly suggests, the U.S. treated Latin America like their backyard, as in the place where you send the kids to run wild while the adults deal with the “real” business, but instead of kids, it’s entire countries. The U.S. meddled in Latin American politics for decades, all for their political and economic gain. Then, after wrecking entire countries, they’re like, “Wait, why are all these people trying to move here?” When things predictably went sideways, they decided, "You know what will fix this? A wall to keep the people we just screwed over from coming here." Classic.
Same deal with the War on Drugs. Instead of cleaning up their own mess with, I don’t know, the fact that Americans really like their cocaine, the U.S. decided to go all-in on crushing the poor farmers who grow coca because it’s literally their only way to make a living there. The U.S. spent billions on anti-drug programs in the 80s, but all they really managed to do was push drug production further into remote areas of Colombia and Peru, where farmers had no other crops to grow.
And now, for real - when I visited Mexico, I saw things that I won't forget. Little kids selling random stuff just to survive when they should be in school, playing or learning. I saw mothers, up at 5 a.m., setting up food stands on the street to sell all day, every day, because that’s the only way they can feed their families. Old men, who should be at home, retired and enjoying what little peace they have left, working in supermarkets for the tips people leave them—packing groceries because there’s no social benefits, no pensions, no health insurance. And just like America's Backyard mentions, these people were abandoned—not just by their employers, but by their own governments too.
But let’s not forget who kept that system alive. The U.S. had a leading role, supporting the greedy elites in these countries, making sure any attempts at reform or social justice were suppressed. They wanted to make sure Latin America stayed poor and unequal because it served their political and economic purposes. Power and money rule the world—even at the expense of human lives. And yeah, while this book shines a light on how the U.S. ruined countless lives south of the border, it also feels a bit one-sided. "U.S. bad, Latin America sad." Sure, the U.S. wasn’t exactly playing nice, but it’s not like every Latin American government was totally innocent either. Corruption and poor leadership existed long before the U.S. stepped in.
So, yeah, if you are into global power flexes and bad foreign policy decisions, America’s Backyard is the book for you. Can't wait for 2025 when Trump will "Make America Great Again” ✌️
March 19, 2013
It made me reconsider the way I see the US.
June 19, 2013
... And once more some details revealed about the true USA, I really hope there's more to come!!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews