War Aid from Latin America

Report Outline
Latin America and Hemisphere Defense
U.S. Policies and Latin American Politics
Latin American Support in the Korean War
Special Focus

Latin America and Hemisphere Defense

Inter-American Relations and War Emergencies

Latin American support for United States and United Nations action in Korea, though not yet made fully effective, has provided a strong demonstration of Western Hemisphere solidarity against Communist aggression. Signs of Yankeephobia and isolationism in nationalist regimes which have gained power in Latin America since World War II, however, leave questions as to the extent and effectiveness of the aid to be anticipated from that region in the event of a major conflict.

A presidential election in Brazil on Oct. 3 may furnish some indication of the strength of anti-United States sentiment in the nation that traditionally has been the best South American friend of this country. Getulio Vargas has attempted, in his formidable campaign for return to the presidency, to make political capital of alleged intervention by the United States in the 1945 Brazilian election. Reports of close relations of Vargas with Argentine President Peron, moreover, have engendered fears that a Vargas victory would not be propitious from the standpoint of the United States.

Relations with Argentina, severely strained during the war and immediate postwar years, recently have been measurably improved. Extension of a $125 million Export-Import Bank credit, whose detailed terms are now being negotiated, followed removal by Peron of certain restrictions on United States business firms. Argentina's ratification of the Rio defense pact in August, moreover, has brought that nation finally into the formal inter-American arrangements for collective security.