Aim: What were the goals of Reagan

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Aim What were the goals of Reagans foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere?
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4. Foreign Policy in the Western Hemisphere

• President Reagans chief foreign policy goal in
  the Western Hemisphere was to stop the spread of
  communism.
• The United States had long feared that the
  communist government of Cuba, led by Fidel
  Castro, would establish communist governments in
  the Western Hemisphere.
• The United States targeted Central America, an
  area with large populations of poor, landless
  peasants and small groups of wealthy families.
• Americas aim was to stop any communist threat in
  Central America.

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Central America
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Islands in the Caribbean Sea
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4.1 Aid to Stop the Spread of Communism

• To stop the spread of communism, the United
  States gave military and financial aid to certain
  Central American groups headed by juntas.
• A junta is a group of military officers who had
  taken over the government by revolutionary means.
• By the late 1970s, many of these juntas were
  opposed by large numbers of their own people.
• Although there were Communists among these
  people, many were members of the middle class or
  peasants that demanded social change and land
  reform.
• To keep power, the juntas kept arresting and
  executing large numbers of people.

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• Although the United States disliked these
  tactics, it did not want to aid the Communists by
  weakening the juntas.
• However, it pressured several governments to make
  land reforms and improve living conditions for
  peasants.
• Some governments did listen, however, a large
  majority of peasants remained poor.

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Junta Leaders in Brazil
Aurelio de Lira Tavares
Admiral Augusto Gruenwald
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Junta Leaders in Chile
Gen. Augusto Pincohet
Salvador Allende
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Junta Leaders in Nicaragua
Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Daniel Ortega
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Junta Leaders in El Salvador
Jose Napoleon Duarte
Carlos Humberto Romero
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4.2 Nicaragua

• From the beginning of his first term, President
  Reagan faced problems in Nicaragua.
• In January 1981, the State Department confirmed
  that the revolutionary Sandinista government and
  Cuba were giving aid to overthrow the junta in El
  Salvador.
• The United States cut off aid to Nicaragua and
  gave military and economic aid to El Salvador.
• The United States also began to back
  anti-Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua called
  contras.

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Flag of the Sandinistas
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The Contras
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• The goal of the contras was to slow the arms
  shipments from Nicaragua to El Salvador.
• The contras soon began to attack Sandinista bases
  inside Nicaragua.
• The government of Nicaragua soon disliked the
  policies of the United States. They went to the
  United Nations and stated that the United States
  was backing an invasion of their nation.

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• Our policy in Nicaragua had a great deal of
  opposition.
• In April 1984, the nation learned that our CIA
  was involved in the mining of Nicaraguan harbors.
• The United States Congress condemned Reagan for
  his actions, but we continued to give money to
  the Contras in the years that followed.

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4.3 El Salvador

• Conditions in El Salvador worsened.
• The government had begun land reform but progress
  was slow.
• Many citizens of El Salvador began to turn on the
  government and began to back the guerillas.
• The government soon began arresting and executing
  those citizens which opposed the junta.
• In December 1980, American nuns were murdered by
  the junta and in March 1981, Archbishop Oscar
  Romero was assassinated by the junta.

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Archbishop Oscar Moreno
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• Many Americans insisted that all military and
  economic aid to El Salvador be stopped until
  conditions improved.
• Reagan continued to assist the government stating
  that withholding aid would turn El Salvador into
  a communist nation.
• In July 1981, with American support, the
  government announced free elections would be held
  with the hope of establishing a civil government.

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• The guerillas told the people to boycott the
  elections but they still took place.
• The Reagan administration had hoped the moderate
  party would win and were shocked that the people
  supported right-wing, Communist parties.
• The new government moved to undo the land reforms
  and a civil war started soon after.

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• Despite the outcome of the elections, the United
  States kept sending military aid.
• At the same time, Reagan and the government
  insisted that the government improve its record
  on human rights.
• In 1983, both the Congress and Reagan agreed that
  this had occurred in El Salvador.

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• In 1984, things improved greatly with the
  election of Jose Napoleon Duarte.
• Duarte agreed to make land reforms and slowly
  began negotiations with the guerilla leaders who
  opposed him.

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Jose Napoleon Duarte
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4.4 Falkland Crisis

• In the midst of his Central American problems,
  Reagan had to deal with the Falkland crisis.
• In April 1982, several thousand troops from
  Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands off the
  coast of Argentina.
• The government of Argentina claimed the islands
  were stolen from them in 1833.
• The prime minister of England, Margaret Thatcher,
  stated that she would use force if the Argentines
  refused to leave.

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Argentina and the Falkland Islands
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Englands Prime Minister-Margaret Thatcher
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• The Falkland Crisis put the United States in an
  awkward position.
• The military action of England would violate the
  Monroe Doctrine while England was a close ally of
  our nation.
• To work out a settlement, Reagan dispatched
  Alexander Haig to do shuttle diplomacy between
  London and Buenos Aires, Argentina for several
  weeks.
• The talks broke down and the United States
  government, along with several close allies,
  backed England and placed sanctions on Argentina.

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• In May of 1982, the British landed troops in the
  Falklands and took over Argentine positions.
• In June, the Argentines surrendered and the
  British regained control of the islands.
• The war brought bitter feelings between the
  United States and Argentina. The government of
  Argentina believed they were let because the
  United States refused to honor the Monroe
  Doctrine.

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War in the Falkland Islands
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4.5 Grenada

• In 1983, the United States faced a crisis on the
  Caribbean island of Grenada.
• Grenada built up its military forces under
  Maurice Bishop, a supporter of Fidel Castro.
• There was also growing political unrest which
  troubled other political nations in the
  Caribbean.
• Those nations asked the United States to
  intervene.

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Map of Grenada
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• In October 1983, the US military invaded the
  island.
• After a few days of fighting, the Americans
  defeated the Grenadan and Cuban forces, which
  were using Soviet equipment.
• The Marxist government was overthrown in favor of
  a more democratic government.
• Although he was criticized, Reagan was
  determined to protect the interests of the US and
  its allies.

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Invasion of Grenada (1983)
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Invasion of Grenada (1983)
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Invasion of Grenada (1983)