Abstract

The introductory part of the article analyzes contemporary Western historiography on the issue under consideration. In the books and articles of L. Bethell, W. LaFeber, K. Blasier, T. Halperin Donghi and some other authors, only the impact of the United States on the countries of Latin America is treated in a positive light, while the most important events of the postwar years are passed over in silence. More objective assessments of the influence exerted by the USSR on the states of the continent may be found in the works of Soviet Latin Americanists, who highlight the diplomatic consequences of the Victory and the growth in mass support and militancy of the communist and labor movements. The author offers a comprehensive examination of events in Latin America associated with the Great Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. These include the establishment of diplomatic relations with most countries of the region, the expansion of left-wing and communist movements, and the widespread dissemination of progressive national reformism, which drew on Soviet achievements in industrialization, import substitution, and social transformation. The article concludes that the impact of the Great Victory in Latin America was particularly palpable in 1945–1948. In Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, and a number of other countries, leaders committed to democratic reforms came to power. Well-known politicians such as J.D. Perón (Argentina) and G. Vargas (Brazil) changed their political orientation and moved to progressive positions. It required considerable effort on the part of the United States to counter these trends and roll back the advances that had been made. A broad campaign of propaganda was launched against leftist and democratic forces. By exerting unprecedented pressure on Latin American leaders, the United States turned to its own advantage the international conferences held at Chapultepec (1945) and Rio de Janeiro (1947). At the Bogotá conference (1948), it did not shrink from the assassination of the prominent progressive figure J. Gaitán and mendaciously attributed both that act and the subsequent popular uprisings ("Bogotazo") to the "machinations of the Cominform". In the end, a course was set for the reorganization of the inter-American system and for "bloc diplomacy", which became a compliant instrument of the Cold War, as well as for the orchestration of coups d'état.