AbstractsHistory

Through the Lens of Pater-Americanism: A Comparative Analysis of the Eisenhower Administration's Perception of Guatemala and Bolivia, 1953 and 1954

by Aaron Coy Moulton




Institution: University of Kansas
Department: Latin American Studies
Degree: MA
Year: 2009
Keywords: Latin America – History
Record ID: 1854377
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1808/5542


Abstract

This thesis examines the diverging responses of the Eisenhower Administration in the US to the Arbenz government in Guatemala and the Paz government in Bolivia in 1953 and 1954. This divergence occurred in spite of strong similarities between the political rhetoric and social and economic policies of the two revolutionary governments. The thesis utilizes a discourse analysis of the statements, memos, and reports of US officials in order to investigate how the Eisenhower Administration perceived the two Latin American governments. The discourse analysis uncovers that pater-Americanism, the ideology of US foreign policy toward Latin America, informed US policymakers' evaluation of the communications of leaders of each government. US officials insisted upon Latin American governments' compliance to US hegemony and the privileging of private interest, thereby constructing an inter-American system. The thesis thus determines that the Arbenz government's defiance of and the Paz government's acquiescence to the ideals of pater-Americanism impacted the Eisenhower Administration's varied responses.