Soviet Interests and Communist Tactics in Central America prior to the Sandinista Victory of 1979

Abstract

It would not be an underestimation to say that until the victory of the Sandinista revolution in July 1979, Central America was the most neglected region in Latin America in Soviet foreign policy formulation. Even the victory of Castro’s revolution did not much alter the Soviet perception of the area. Two major factors had placed limitations on Soviet interests and activities in Central America. Firstly, its close proximity to the United States, and thus its presence within the American geopolitical sphere of influence. The Soviet analysts and policy-makers were apprehensive of the Monroe Doctrine (proclaimed by Washington in 1823), which has been applied successfully in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries in the Western hemisphere, comprising Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, where American security interests are exposed most.