Mexico and the Cold War The International Context of 墨西哥和冷战的国际背景下.pptVIP

Mexico and the Cold War: The International Context of the “Perfect Dictatorship” Halbert Jones, Ph.D. Office of the Historian U.S. Department of State JonesHM@ The views expressed and interpretations presented in this session are those of the presenter and not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Government. Foreign Relations of the United States Official documentary record of U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic activity Published since 1861 “Documentary history”: Documents from the archives, selected and annotated Congressional mandate: “a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of major United States foreign policy decisions and significant United States diplomatic activity” The Office of the Historian Online Newly redesigned Provides access to FRUS and other resources Other Online Resources /FRUS/ For access to scanned images of pre-1960 FRUS volumes, fully searchable. or For information on the National Archives and for direct online access, through AAD link, to post-1973 diplomatic records (cables). Contact the Office of the Historian via e-mail at history@. “Mexico is the perfect dictatorship. The perfect dictatorship is not communism. It is not the USSR. It is not Fidel Castro. The perfect dictatorship is Mexico….” - Mario Vargas Llosa, 1990 Mexico and the Cold War Unlike Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, no coups or anti-communist military dictatorships Unlike Cuba, no Marxist revolution Unlike Central America, no civil conflicts that became proxy wars Cold War’s impact on Mexico less obvious than its effects on many other countries in the region: Mexico as an Exceptional Case Political stability, marked by dominance of a single party, 1929-2000 No extreme repression, though Mexico did have its own “dirty war” Alliance with US,  but with displays of  independence Explaining Mexico’s Stability Historians have pointed to: Regime’s use of revolutionary rhetoric “No Re-election” princip