Military-technical ties between the USSR and Latin America as a phenomenon of the actual past

Abstract

The article analyzes the evolution of the Soviet-Latin American military-technical cooperation in the period from 1955 until 1991. The Latin American aspect is considered in the context of the general dynamics of cooperation with the "third world" regions. The compilation of the US Agency for Arms Control and Disarmament statistical data on the supply of weapons from the USSR to Latin America was carried out. The periodization of the development of Soviet-Latin American military-technical cooperation has been developed according to the criterion of the USSR and the USA volume of military-technical cooperation with the region. The vector of development of the USSR military relations with the Latin American allies is traced from the total lag in the 50s and 60s to the qualitative and quantitative superiority by the end of the 80s of the twentieth century. It is proved that by the time of the collapse of the USSR, it had significant superiority over the United States in military supplies to the region in terms of the gross volume and variety of types of weapons. The superiority of the United States consisted in diversifying the arms market, while the USSR concentrated on the "left triumvirate" - Cuba, Peru and Nicaragua. Here is expressed the hypothesis that the objective goal of the USSR military assistance was the formation of an international pole of left and communist orientation, as a counterbalance to right-wing dictatorships.