Latin America; General Titles

The Military and the State in Latin America, by Alain Rouquié, translated by P. E. Sigmund, pub. University of California Press, 1987, 453 pp. this is a bit heavy reading, but because of it's European origins and view-point makes the text interesting reading, must admit that I have only scanned it but from what I've seen, this book could be a handy item, although maybe it covers too much ground for this size of work.

The Plot to Annihilate the Armed Forces and the Nations of Ibero-America, pub. EIR (Executive Intelligence Review) News Service, Inc. Washington D.C., English edition 1994, 391 pp. first published in Spanish in 1993, the title itself makes you want to read it and see what it's about, basically it is anti U.S. and U.K. banking methods that are now being used to bring about "The New World Order" at the demise of national independence, which is going on in all third world countries through-out the world, not only in Latin America, I have always looked upon international money lending, whether via bonds or governmental arrangements either created profits for the lenders or gave preferential trading rights to governments, look at most Latin American country during the 19th century and you find Britain, France, the U.S.A. and Germany making this type of headway, the latter two towards the turn of the 19th century. It would appear that in the last 20 years, active political trends towards international loans have gone beyond that and investors now require that the various counties have a stability with no perceived risks of coups etc. while looking at a nations military as a threat to this scenario, causing reductions in the county's armed forces as a requirement before any loan can be arranged.

On one hand, to the normal man in the street of the U.S. or Britain this sounds like a form of democracy that we should applaud, but to most patriotic Latin Americans who know roughly their county's history and present situation, a good sized armed force is often thought appropriate, not only to guard against border incursions, but internal unrest i.e. guerrilla movements and the drug related cartels / narco-terrorist groups that abound these days. If that country, say Colombia for instance, is forced to reduce the armed forces, the fight against the various guerrilla movements, political or drug related, still has to be waged but this time with U.S. involvement, which erodes the governments options and increases the dependence on the U.S., when one looks at what has been happening in Colombia over the past 5 years in the fight against the FARC, ELN and M-19 guerrilla groups and the plea bargain surrenders of the Medellín Drugs Cartel one wonders who is running the show. Anyway I've taken too much space on this work, if your interested in this view-point try and obtain a copy via your library, it's a thought provoking work.

Latin American Revolutions 1808-1826: Old and New World Origins, by Prof. John Lynch, pub. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994, 401 pp. 2 maps, no illustrations, this work looks at the various roots of popular unrest in these colonies from the 1780's through to total independence, this is not really a book on the military side of these wars but a series of previously published articles that relate to the diverse attitudes that helped create hostile resentment towards both Spanish and Portuguese colonial administrations, that found an outlet for this dissatisfaction when Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal, not as helpful to the wargamer as his "The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826", pub. 1973, but for someone who wants to delve deeper than just the battles and campaigns then this is a good helper. I have just joined "Thalassa, Asociación de Historia Marítima y Naval Iberoamericana, with their annual journal

Derroteros de la Mar del Sur, so far I have the 1993, 4, & 5 editions, each have 140 pages of mainly Spanish text on various naval episodes, mainly scientific expeditions of the 18th century, although there are others which could be of interest such as the "Presence of Drake and Cavendish along the American Pacific Coast" [Spanish Text], "The Conversion of the Spanish Fleet to Steam Power 1850-1866" [Spanish Text], "Bodega and Vancouver: Protagonists at Nootka, 1792" [English Text], and "La Construcción Naval en Montevideo durante el Periodo Hispánico", I would hope that the future would bring about articles on naval actions from the various conflicts although this might may not be looked upon as constructive, we will have to see.

More Books

Pre Columbian, Conquest, and Colonial
Latin America: General Titles
Mexico and Brazil
Central America, West Indies
South America
Miscellaneous