| This study evaluates the evolution of Soviet perceptions of and attitudes toward Latin America during the Brezhnev period (1964-1982). I attempt to clarify the data base on which the Soviets formulate their policy toward Latin America. The study looks at four major components of the Soviet Union's perceptions: the changing Soviet perception of the United States' ability to influence events in Latin America; the changing Soviet perception of Latin America's domestic politics; the new role of Latin America in the international arena; and emerging Soviet-Latin American relations.;A central hypothesis of the thesis is that, as a result of the very small number of Soviet specialists on Latin America, the scholarly and journalistic communities have a profound impact on official thinking in the USSR and on its policy formulation toward Latin America.;Another important hypothesis is that, as the Soviet data base in Latin America increased, the USSR abandoned its rigid caricature-like perceptions of Latin America and realized that the Latin American states and societies contain within them a very wide array of interests and opinions. This increase in Soviet sensitivity toward Latin America led to a wide array of different schools of thought regarding Latin America, ranging from people who were very optimistic about the future developments in Latin America to those who retained essentially a Stalinist perspective. However, for a variety of reasons Latin America remained the area of lowest priority for the USSR.;Initial research included the available Western literature on Soviet-Latin American relations. The key sources of data, however, were Soviet academic journals such as Latinskaiia Amerika, SShA, Mirovaia Ekonomika i Mezhdunarodnye Otnosheniia, Voprosy Istorii, Nauka i religia, and Voprosy Filosofii. The above information journals was enhanced by books published by the Institute of Latin America of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In addition, communist party journals such as Kommunist, Rabochii Klass i Soveremenyi Mir, Kommunist Vooruzhonykh Sil, and World Marxist Review provided insight into the views of the communist parties of both the Soviet Union and Latin America. Soviet newspapers such as Pravda, Izvestiia, and Krasnaia Zvezda, along with Cuba's Granma, proved to be valuable reflections of Soviet perceptions. |
