The Battle for Latin American Hearts and Minds: Jfk and the Alliance for Progress
October 1, 2012
The Battle for Latin American Hearts and Minds: JFK and the Alliance for Progress
By the 1960s, Latin America had seen its share of U.S. policies with aims to improve inter-American relations and regional stability. Especially after World War II, these policies were often unsuited for long-term development and served American interests before the basic needs of the people. President Eisenhower’s open support of military dictatorships left many Latin Americans under oppressive social conditions, and the rest were left with false hopes of economic and humanitarian aid. Military aid to Latin America, however, had doubled as the fear of communism overtook the hope for any long-term developmental efforts, resulting in a surge in anti-Americanism and inclinations toward non-democratic ideologies. President Kennedy was determined to change the course of U.S. policy toward Latin America with the Alliance for Progress, a ten-year plan with more than $20 billion in loans announced in 1961. This was a sharp contrast to the hard power approach of the Eisenhower administration, as the threat was now ideological in the form of communism.
Nevertheless, it is widely held that the Alliance for Progress and its related programs, such as the Peace Corps, were unsuccessful in bringing about the development and socialization in Latin America that the U.S. had hoped for in the 1960s. The Kennedy Administration was consumed with finding a way to fight communism in the Western Hemisphere through soft power, and he soon found out that “democracy and social justice could not be easily imparted to poor countries.” The revolutionary mentality of Latin America would no longer accept another U.S. policy of intervention cloaked in goodwill efforts. Winning the hearts and minds of the people came down to cultural relativism and listening to what the people needed, not what the U.S. thought they needed. The implementation of public diplomacy tools conflicted with American
The Battle for Latin American Hearts and Minds: JFK and the Alliance for Progress
By the 1960s, Latin America had seen its share of U.S. policies with aims to improve inter-American relations and regional stability. Especially after World War II, these policies were often unsuited for long-term development and served American interests before the basic needs of the people. President Eisenhower’s open support of military dictatorships left many Latin Americans under oppressive social conditions, and the rest were left with false hopes of economic and humanitarian aid. Military aid to Latin America, however, had doubled as the fear of communism overtook the hope for any long-term developmental efforts, resulting in a surge in anti-Americanism and inclinations toward non-democratic ideologies. President Kennedy was determined to change the course of U.S. policy toward Latin America with the Alliance for Progress, a ten-year plan with more than $20 billion in loans announced in 1961. This was a sharp contrast to the hard power approach of the Eisenhower administration, as the threat was now ideological in the form of communism.
Nevertheless, it is widely held that the Alliance for Progress and its related programs, such as the Peace Corps, were unsuccessful in bringing about the development and socialization in Latin America that the U.S. had hoped for in the 1960s. The Kennedy Administration was consumed with finding a way to fight communism in the Western Hemisphere through soft power, and he soon found out that “democracy and social justice could not be easily imparted to poor countries.” The revolutionary mentality of Latin America would no longer accept another U.S. policy of intervention cloaked in goodwill efforts. Winning the hearts and minds of the people came down to cultural relativism and listening to what the people needed, not what the U.S. thought they needed. The implementation of public diplomacy tools conflicted with American