~~ Pinochet ~~
Though General Pinochet became a devil symbol of the international left, he was a far more complex figure and cannot be understood apart from the global Cold War conflict of which he and his country were a part. Pinochet's legacy is a paradox--a long string of them.
He took power in a coup in 1973, but ultimately he created an environment where democratic institutions would prevail. He is responsible for the death and torture that occurred on his watch, but had Salvador Allende succeeded in turning Chile into another Cuba, many more might have died.
Why did the United States, which helped Pinochet seize power from Salvador Allende, support the violent dictator for nearly two decades? Scholars answering these questions have usually focused on the threat posed by Allende, the first elected Marxist head of state, to Chilean and US business interests and to the cold war foreign policy of the United States. But recently declassified documents, along with the reissue of Patricia Politzer's Fear in Chile: Lives Under Pinochet, suggest that the Chilean counterrevolution, however much shaped by immediate economic and political causes, was infused with a much older, more revanchist political spirit, one stretching as far back as the French Revolution.
~~ Allende ~~
Salvador Allende was born in Valparaiso, Chile, in 1903. As a medical student he became involved in radical politics and he was arrested several times while at university.
In 1933 Allende helped to found the Chilean Socialist Party, a Marxist organization that was opposed to the Soviet Union influenced Communist Party.
Allende was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937 and served in the government of Pedro Aguirre Cerda as Minister of Health (1939-41). He was also senator between 1945 and 1970.
Allende's attempts to build a socialist society was opposed by business interests. Later, Henry Kissinger admitted that in September 1970, President Richard Nixon ordered him to organize a coup against Allende's government. A CIA document written just after Allende was elected said: "It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup" and "it is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG (United States government) and American hand be well hidden."
~~ Nixon ~~
lunes, 1 de junio de 2009
~~ Ho Chi Minh/Domino Theory ~~
~~Ho Chi Minh~~
A man of humble background, Ho Chi Minh became one of the key figures in establishing communist rule in Vietnam and became notorious throughout the world as one of Communist’s strongest leaders. He organized the Communist revolution in Vietnam and can be given much of the credit for reuniting Vietnam under communist rule.
Ho Chi Minh was born Nguyen Tat Thanh in 1890 in the village of Kim Lien in Annam which is located in central Vietnam. His father, Nguyen Sinh Huy was a nationalist and raised his children to hate the French who controlled Vietnam. Ho was the youngest of three children all of which did their part in to overtake the French. His sister obtained a job in the French army and used her position to steal weapons for their eventual overthrow but she was caught and sentenced to life in prison. Though his father refused to learn French, he sent Ho to the National Academy school in Hue to learn be educated by the French in hopes that Ho could obtain knowledge that could be used against the French. When Ho finished school he became a teacher at a private school. He became a sailor and in traveling the world he learned that other countries were just as oppressed ads the French as Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh was born Nguyen Tat Thanh in 1890 in the village of Kim Lien in Annam which is located in central Vietnam. His father, Nguyen Sinh Huy was a nationalist and raised his children to hate the French who controlled Vietnam. Ho was the youngest of three children all of which did their part in to overtake the French. His sister obtained a job in the French army and used her position to steal weapons for their eventual overthrow but she was caught and sentenced to life in prison. Though his father refused to learn French, he sent Ho to the National Academy school in Hue to learn be educated by the French in hopes that Ho could obtain knowledge that could be used against the French. When Ho finished school he became a teacher at a private school. He became a sailor and in traveling the world he learned that other countries were just as oppressed ads the French as Vietnam.
~~Domino Theory ~~
The Cold War “containment” notion was born of the Domino Theory, which held that if one country fell under communist influence or control, its neighboring countries would soon follow. Containment was the cornerstone of the Truman Doctrine as defined by a Truman speech on March 12, 1947. The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO and the United Nations then became the foundation of American foreign policy through the Reagan administration and beyond, for about 50 years.
American policy toward the Soviet Union did not change immediately. The Truman administration, operating on the basis of JCS 1067* and the Potsdam agreements, was determined to get along with the Soviets. Those agreements made clear that their principal mission was the unification of Germany, and therefore, cooperation with the Soviets seemed essential. Germany would be administered as a single economic unit by the Allied Control Council under General Lucius D. Clay, but Stalin sealed all land access to East Germany, and West Berlin (in East Germany) became isolated. Clay said to his staff, "We have to make it work. If the four nations cannot work together in Berlin, how can we get together in the United Nations to secure the peace of the world?" Obviously, there had to be some give and take; within the Allied Control Council, that was going to be the American policy.
American policy toward the Soviet Union did not change immediately. The Truman administration, operating on the basis of JCS 1067* and the Potsdam agreements, was determined to get along with the Soviets. Those agreements made clear that their principal mission was the unification of Germany, and therefore, cooperation with the Soviets seemed essential. Germany would be administered as a single economic unit by the Allied Control Council under General Lucius D. Clay, but Stalin sealed all land access to East Germany, and West Berlin (in East Germany) became isolated. Clay said to his staff, "We have to make it work. If the four nations cannot work together in Berlin, how can we get together in the United Nations to secure the peace of the world?" Obviously, there had to be some give and take; within the Allied Control Council, that was going to be the American policy.
~~ Kennedy,Krushcev, and Castro ~~
~~ Kennedy ~~
John F. Kennedy is considered as one of the greatest Presidents of United States who had only one dream: to bring his nation on the front seat as a leader of the world and he tried his heart & soul to make his dream come true. Below are some facts and information on the life and history of John F. Kennedy.
John Fitzgerald. Kennedy was born on May 29 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts to a highly successful businessman Joseph Patrick Kennedy of Irish origin and Rose Fitzgerald. He was second eldest son of nine children to Joseph Patrick Kennedy among four boys and five girls, and was named Jack, further he was named John Fitzgerald in honor to John Francis Fitzgerald (his maternal grandfather). He was a grandson to Patrick Kennedy who had shifted from Ireland and settled to Massachusetts in 1849 to explore new possibilities of business. His grandfathers Patrick Joseph Kennedy and John Francis Fitzgerald were successful and very powerful politicians in Boston.
He was an active cold warrior his first Congressional campaign boasted of taking on the anti-Cold War faction of the Democratic Party led by Henry Wallace, and as a congressman he aligned himself with those who said the Truman Administration wasn't being tough enough.
Even while running for President in 1960, JFK appealed to the "tough on the Soviets" issue by consistently hammering at Eisenhower for America's supposed lack of leadership, and America "falling behind the Soviets."
JFK, to be sure, did make efforts to reduce direct tensions with the USSR following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Even while running for President in 1960, JFK appealed to the "tough on the Soviets" issue by consistently hammering at Eisenhower for America's supposed lack of leadership, and America "falling behind the Soviets."
JFK, to be sure, did make efforts to reduce direct tensions with the USSR following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
~~Krushcev~~
Born a Ukrainian peasant, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev joined the Communist party in 1918 and in four decades rose through the ranks to become the leader of all the Soviet Union. Khrushchev first became a member of the party's central committee in 1934. He had a close connection to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and after Stalin's death in 1953 Khrushchev emerged as the new leader. He began to reform Stalin's most brutal excesses, and when he denounced some crimes of Stalin in 1956 it was regarded as a stunning development. Khrushchev also attempted to ease relations with the United States; in 1959 he toured the U.S. and met with President Dwight Eisenhower. When a U.S. spy plane piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over Russia in 1960, Khrushchev grew more belligerent, and he grabbed the attention of the world by pounding his shoe on a conference table at the United Nations that fall. Khrushchev, the U2 incident, and the Cold War all became major issues in the 1960 U.S. presidential contest between Vice President Richard Nixon and John Kennedy, which was won by Kennedy. Two years later Khrushchev was forced to back down to Kennedy over the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba, in what became known as the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Further domestic and foreign relations disasters weakened Khrushchev's power, and in 1964 he was replaced as Soviet leader by Leonid Brezhnev.
~~Castro~~
He is the former Head of State of Cuba for nearly 50 years, and a leader of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro, as he is widely known, was the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976 and then President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008.
He was born to a rich family and acquired a law degree. During studies at Havana University, he started a political career and was a recognized in politics. His political life continued with nationalist critiques of Fulgencio Batista, and of United States political and corporate influence in Cuba.
The Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in Cuba. On October 16, President John Kennedy was shown reconnaissance photographs of Soviet missile installations under construction in Cuba. After seven days of guarded and intense debate in the United States administration, during which Soviet diplomats denied that installations for offensive missiles were being built in Cuba, President Kennedy, in a televised address on October 22, announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly. He also imposed a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of offensive military weapons from arriving there.
Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers also be removed from Cuba, and to specify the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.
He was born to a rich family and acquired a law degree. During studies at Havana University, he started a political career and was a recognized in politics. His political life continued with nationalist critiques of Fulgencio Batista, and of United States political and corporate influence in Cuba.
The Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in Cuba. On October 16, President John Kennedy was shown reconnaissance photographs of Soviet missile installations under construction in Cuba. After seven days of guarded and intense debate in the United States administration, during which Soviet diplomats denied that installations for offensive missiles were being built in Cuba, President Kennedy, in a televised address on October 22, announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly. He also imposed a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of offensive military weapons from arriving there.
Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers also be removed from Cuba, and to specify the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.
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