The basis of my historiographical research was the works carried out by the Chilean academic, diplomat and politician Muñoz.
HERALDO MUÑOZ
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR
His Excellency, Dr. Heraldo Muñoz.
Is a political scientist, diplomat and politician in Chile. Under Michelle Bachelet administration of Chile, he was designated to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile. Also served as ambassador of the United Nations (UN), Brazil and Organization of American States (OAS). One of his most interesting works was as Assistant Secretary General , and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, he is a relevant actor to be analyzed, specially after his leadership role as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The author developed relevant academic works such as “The Dictator’s Shadow: Life Under Augusto Pinochet”, “El Fin del Fantasma: Las relaciones interamericanas después de la Guerra Fría”, and “Latin American Views of US Policy”.
The perspective of Dr. Muñoz allows me to broaden my understanding of Chile’s post-Pinochet history, as well as increase my range of arguments about the effects of military regimes in countries of the southern cone.
MORE ABOUT MUÑOZ: https://www.weforum.org/people/heraldo-munoz
| WHY DR. MUÑOZ
“That a woman is separated, was tortured and exiled now becomes the President of Chile. Is really incredible, this will truly have impact in Latin America.”
Heraldo Muñoz – Jan 15, 2006
The aforementioned sentence in 2006, after the election of Michellet Bachelet, represents the influence of the Military Dictatorship in Chile in two ways. The first, how Chilean democracy was established within the post-Pinochet context, and second, how the author recognizes the negative effects of the military dictatorship and the bipolarity of Chilean democracy
HISTORIOGRAPHY
Considering the importance and role of Dr. Muñoz, we can determine that his academic work referring to the diplomatic role of Latin America is connected to the role of American foreign policy. That’s why I chose to study his book, Latin American Views of the U.S. Policy. The book was written in 1985, and therefore has relevant information at the time of American foreign policy, about the leadership of Ronald Reagan, as well as a counterpoint to military leadership in the southern hemisphere.
Remembering the position of Dr. Muñoz, on the election of President Michelle Bachelet, I believe that this book has a very relevant historiographical basis for understanding the role of American influence in South America.
LATIN AMERICAN VIEWS OF THE U.S. POLICY
In Latin American Views of U.S. Policy:The author provides a broad understanding of the role of the United States in relation to its foreign policy with Latin American countries. This allowed me to understand the extent of American influence and direct my research towards the role of the USA in the coup’s d’état of the 60’s and 70’s.
Relations between the US and Latin America, despite having a promising start (thanks to the inspiration that the movement for American independence offered to anti-colonialist leaders below the Equator, including those of the Inconfidência Mineira), are predominantly marked by periods of malaise, sometimes intense, and often scorn from North to South and resentment the other way around. This situation reached its peak during the Cold War
Before that, the US had already replaced England as the main trading partner of Latin American countries and had beaten Mexico in the 1846 war, after which Texas, in addition to areas of other current states in the country, was incorporated into its territory. After the Spanish-American War, the US intervened militarily in several Latin American nations
The analysis of these troubled and complex relationships takes place, most of the time, in a Manichaean, ideological and simple-minded way. In the academic community, evaluations on this subject tend to privilege a US perspective, because of the enormous disparity in material resources for carrying out these studies in universities and research institutes in that country compared to those in other countries. Other factors, however, may have caused this imbalance. This book deals with some of them, with an intelligent and original approach to this fascinating subject of international relations. The author shows that, since their emergence as nations, the US and Latin American countries have had marked differences in vision about their place in international politics and about the role that their foreign policy would have in the struggle for national stability.
Unlike the US, most Latin American nations did not deliberately and consistently throughout history (for different reasons in time and space) formulate or practice what the author calls protagonism, which is a prominent performance and the exercise of conscious autonomy in the field of foreign policy. The book is a History of the protagonism in the main countries of Latin America, a brilliant essay on how they have become less or more engaged in international relations over time.