Richard M. Nixon

Born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California and died in 1994 in New York. He was president of the United States between 1969 and 1974. This was a period that saw State terrorism peaking violently in Latin America and the Caribbean under the direct auspices of the intelligence community and the U.S. military-industrial complex. Nixon’s policies were closely linked to those of Henry A. Kissinger, first National Security advisor and later Secretary of State. Another important personality in this administration was First Secretary of State William Rogers.

Barely in the White House, Nixon sent the multimillionaire Nelson Rockefeller on a tour of Latin America to draw up a report on the state of the region. One of the recommendations was to reinforce the collective security system of the Western Hemisphere and to tighten up U.S. relations with Latin American military-police circles.

During the Nixon era, Washington increased its support for the dictatorships in Brazil and Argentina which were responsible for proven acts of State terrorism, even though at first it appeared that there would be a low U.S. profile in the region. The U.S. was involved in the overthrow of the government of Juan Jose Torres in Bolivia, the assassination of the Chilean head of Armed Forces Rene Schneider, subversion and support for reactionary forces that led to the bloody fascist coup against Chilean constitutional President Salvador Allende, the approval for the plan that led to the cold-blooded murder of the anti-Imperialist Dominican leader Francisco Caamaño and acted as advisor for Bordaberry´s brutally repressive regime in Uruguay.

In 1955, as Vice-President to Eisenhower, Nixon had visited Havana to meet with the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, one of the bloodiest tyrants on the continent and to publicly declare support for the regime. After talking with Fidel Castro during the Cuban leader’s visit to the U.S. in 1959, Nixon’s immediate recommendation was that the leader should be overthrown by any means possible.

Later, during his presidency, hostilities increased, as did pirate attacks, terrorism and the numerous plots to assassinate the Cuban President. Just one example: on October 12, 1971, a group of mercenaries coming from the U.S. shot up the farmhouse at Boca de Sama in Banes, Oriente Province, killing two people and injuring four.

Sources:

• Suarez, Luis. Madre America. A century of violence and pain (1898-1998). Ciencias Sociales Press, Havana, 2002.

• The Appeal of the Cuban People to the Government of the United States.

• Cuba vs.Bloqueo