The Cold War

Historically, U.S.-Latin American relations were a testament to the idea that “large countries will do what they will and small countries will accept what they must…”(1) However, in the early 19th century, Latin American nations began to emerge as independent actors on the world stage. For the U.S., this was threatening—especially after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, which sparked concern about potential Soviet influence at the U.S.’s southern border. As a result, U.S. foreign policy in Latin America became an amalgamation of anticommunism, containment, and strategic denial—the U.S. actively attempted to suppress growing leftist movements in Latin America to prevent them from establishing a foothold or significant influence in the region. This included staging both covert and overt military interventions to oust governments in Latin America, most notably the 1954 coup in Guatemala—less than a decade before Operation Americas—and the overthrow of Brazil’s left-leaning government in 1964—just after Operation Americas. (2)

Such Cold War tensions created a tumultuous environment in Central and South America throughout the years of the Duck crew’s trip. The events from 1958 to 1961 (the start of Operation Americas) alone were enough to make many hesitant about Operation Americas, including the State Department.

(1) Arnson, Cynthia, and Lars Schoultz. 2014. “United States Foreign Relations: Latin America.” In The Oxford Companion to International Relations, edited by Joel Krieger, 1st ed. Oxford University Press, Inc.

(2) Ibid. 

May 1958: Vice President Nixon’s Goodwill Tour

Nixon and his wife “were subjected to violent anti-American demonstrations in Peru and Venezuela, during a goodwill tour of Latin America.”(3) On May 13th, when he arrived at the airport in Caracas, Venezuela, he encountered protesters. While leaving the airport, they stopped his motorcade and stoned his car, breaking the windows. (4) As a result, President Eisenhower ordered Marines to Caribbean military bases to ensure Nixon’s safety, calling it a “precautionary measure.” (5)

The Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy explains that Nixon’s “hostile reception” reflected two key issues with the United States:

The first was a general anger at American support for right-wing dictators and the poverty that characterized many of their regimes. Second, in the months preceding Nixon's visit, the United States had given asylum to the ousted Venezuelan dictator, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and his head of the secret police. In its analysis of the situation, American officials alternately stressed the problem of poverty and blamed it on Communists. (6)

When the Duck crew visited Caracas, Venezuela, they noticed the tension and anti-American sentiment. In a January 1963 article for World Campus (download link below), Dan Twomey reflected on the crew’s experience in Venezuela. In March 1962, the crew visited the National University in Caracas, where just a couple of years earlier, in November 1960, protests had broken out among poor students due to a renewed recession. (7) Dan observed that in Caracas, "a noisy minority of Communists were taking advantage of widespread poverty to run things their own way." Regarding the student protests, he reported that:

In Caracas, the police cannot enter the grounds.  This gives leftist students an ideal situation to create riots, as they did with Vice President Nixon several years ago. Yet, most of the students are not leftist. They want a good education, but it’s difficult in this environment. (8)

Another crew member, Fraser Shaw, also reported a similar sentiment in his journal: 

...we toured the campus which is just loaded with excellent facilities which many of the students don't seem to take advantage of, indulging in political demonstrations, etc. [sic.] take up many of these students' time—as we have heard and as we have sensed in the atmosphere on the university grounds, which are forbidden to the military in almost all of the countries we have been in. (9)

Finally, Dan reported the sentiment amongst what he calls “Professional Communist students.” Allegedly, they: 

..."flunk" courses for as long as eight years and use their influence to get unpopular professors voted out of office. Signs of “Russia—No!: Cuba—Si!” were common. Majors in law and economics are especially vulnerable to the communist line. Cuban and Russian scholarships are numerous.

Additionally, in a March 1962 letter to his then-girlfriend, Rosie, Dan described interactions with anti-American students: 

While waiting [to be let into a university in Caracas, Venezuela] many pro (everything but the U.S.) came up and talked to us; downing the U.S. gov’t and praising Castro etc. Then we went into [sic.] see some Secretary or permission to wash-up.

Many things happened while in his office. Somehow the Esso Agent was contacted and offered to pay for our stay in a hotel. Because of an explosive situation on campus, we were asked not to bring our duck on campus again for our own safety. About 4 hrs. later (7:30) we got to the hotel and finally washed-up….

There is a riot expected in Caracas tomorrow, shooting and all, because of a Congress meeting. Of course we’ll avoid it.

At any University in most Latin American Countries, the campus is of complete political sanction. For example, a policeman was shot (dead) just outside the university. The student, inside the university, could not be touched.

The communists are the cause of most of the trouble here. The President is taking a strong stand against the communists, and the communists seem to be losing ground. I hope!! (11)

(3) “Nixon, Richard Milhous.” 2011. In Chambers Biographical Dictionary, by Liam Rodger and Joan Bakewell, 9th ed. Chambers Harrap.

(4) Hastedt, Glenn. 2016. “U.S. Foreign Policy toward Venezuela.” In Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, by Glenn Hastedt and Allison Shelton, 2nd ed. Facts On File. 

(5) Stearns, Peter N., and William L. Langer, eds. 2001. “VENEZUELA.” In The Encyclopedia of World History, 6th ed. Houghton Mifflin. 

(6) Hastedt, "U.S Foreign Policy toward Venezuela."

(7) Stearns and Langer, “VENEZUELA.”

(8) Twomey, Dan. 1963. "Seven Men in a Duck Visit Latin American Universities." In World Campus.

(9) Fraser Shaw's Journal, 1962.

(10) Twomey, "Seven Men in a Duck Visit Latin American Universities."

(11) Dan Twomey, letter to Rosie Feuerbach, March 1, 1962, Duck Diaries Collection, Drew University Archives and Special Collections.

1959: The Cuban Revolution

In early 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba following an insurrection against American-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. For the US government, this was a “nightmare”: they described Castro as “a Cuban nationalist, a self-taught Marxist, a self-proclaimed professional revolutionary, a genius practitioner of Machiavellian politics, and probably the most charismatic Latin American leader since Bolívar.”(12) Additionally, he was a fierce critic of the United States. As a result, the Cuban Revolution drastically changed United States foreign policy in Latin America:

To forestall “second Cubas”—an imperative felt all the more acutely as Cuba tightened its alliance with the Soviet Union—the US government vastly expanded economic and military assistance to other Latin American countries, openly or tacitly supporting anticommunist military regimes that brutally repressed all forms of dissent.(13)

(12)  Evanson, Philip. 2021. “United States-Latin American Relations.” In Encyclopedia of American Studies, edited by Sharon P. Holland, 1st ed. Johns Hopkins University Press.

(13) Arnson,  “United States Foreign Relations: Latin America.”

April 1961: Bay of Pigs

This change was so significant that its effects could be seen three years later during Operation Americas. In April 1961, just months before the crew started on their journey, the US government attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro’s government via the Bay of Pigs invasion. By mid-1959, the CIA and the State Department had become convinced that they needed to overthrow Castro to protect American economic interests in Cuba:

Castro's government confiscated much private property, including most of that owned by U.S. interests. The Cuban leader also sought to spread his revolution to other Latin American countries. Finally, Castro established strong ties to countries of the Soviet Bloc. (14)

Thus, with President Eisenhower’s approval, the CIA began crafting a discreet operation in which they trained Cuban exiles in Guatemala for an invasion of Cuba. In July of 1960:

The president approved $13 million for a planned guerrilla war in Cuba and authorized the use of Defense Department personnel and equipment to train exiles in Guatemala. (15) 

By the time JFK took office in January 1961, the operation was already underway. The invasion took place between April 17th and 20th, 1961. It was a massive failure on the part of the US and greatly increased Castro’s popularity—as observed by the Duck crew. The tensions and events that followed the Bay of Pigs invasion would eventually lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which occurred just months after the Duck crew returned to the US.

(14) Young, Ronald. 2005. “Bay of Pigs.” In Encyclopedia of Intelligence & Counterintelligence, by Rodney P. Carlisle, 1st ed. Routledge.

(15) Ibid.

August 17, 1961: Alliance for Progress

Although the crew never directly visited Cuba, they experienced the effects of US-Cuba relations throughout Latin America.

Following the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, JFK initiated the “Alliance for Progress” to combat the appeal of communism in Latin America by providing “opportunities for Latin America’s underclasses to improve their quality of life” and expanding participation in the political system.(16) However, the “Alliance for Progress” ultimately failed as the elite refused to open up the political system. 

In an October 1961 letter* written while the crew was in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Dan describes an interaction with the owner of a coffee plantation and brewery: 

One owner was very delighted by Kenedy’s Alliance for Progress because our government…wants higher wages for the workers. The workers now get about ¢50 a day.(17)

A few days later, Dan remarks that while visiting the nearby school of dentistry, students were protesting the Soviet Union’s recent detonation of a 50 mg bomb (likely the 'Tsar Bomba'). Regarding Latin Americans’ perception of Americans, Dan notes in his letter that the crew refused the US ambassador to El Salvador’s invitation to a "grand reception" on their behalf because:

It might cause resentment from the common people and we can't afford to turn its common people against us [sic.], because it is the common people we want to meet and understand. (18)

Later in the letter, he comments on the anti-bourgeois sentiment of the poor in El Salvador:

One thing about the Rotary. They help the poor people in many ways, so they're not disliked. It's the rich who feel the poor are no better than animals that are disliked. (19) 

(16) Leonard, Thomas, M. 2017. “Communism in Latin America.” In Latin American History and Culture: Encyclopedia of Modern Latin America (1900 to the Present), by Thomas M. Leonard, 1st ed. Facts On File. 

(17) Dan Twomey, letter to Rosie Feuerbach, October 24, 1961, Duck Diaries Collection, Drew University Archives and Special Collections.

*Point #24 on StoryMaps

(18) Ibid.

(19)  Dan Twomey, letter to Rosie Feuerbach, October 26, 1961, Duck Diaries Collection, Drew University Archives and Special Collections.