During the Cold War, the United States utilized the Caribbean region for a variety of purposes in its global struggle against the Soviet Union. The Caribbean became a key strategic location for the U.S. due to its proximity to Cuba, which was a communist ally of the Soviet Union, and its status as a major trading hub for the Americas.

One of the primary ways that the U.S. used the Caribbean during the Cold War was as a base for military operations. The U.S. maintained military bases in several Caribbean nations, including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Panama. These bases were used for a variety of purposes, including intelligence gathering, training exercises, and as staging areas for military operations in other parts of the world.

In addition to military operations, the U.S. also used the Caribbean to pursue its economic and political interests in the region. The U.S. was heavily involved in the politics of many Caribbean nations during the Cold War, often supporting authoritarian regimes that were friendly to U.S. interests. The U.S. also used its economic leverage to promote economic development in the region, often tying aid and investment to political and economic reforms that aligned with U.S. interests. The U.S. also provided financial aid to the Caribbean to secure a large voting block at the United Nations. Since the end of the Cold War those financial aid has declined.

One of the most notable examples of the U.S. using the Caribbean during the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1962, the U.S. discovered that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. The U.S. responded by imposing a naval blockade on Cuba and demanding that the Soviet Union remove the missiles. The crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, but ultimately ended when the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a U.S. promise not to invade Cuba and to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.

The U.S. also used the Caribbean to pursue its anti-communist agenda, often supporting right-wing governments and paramilitary groups that were hostile to communist movements in the region. For example, the U.S. supported the Contras in Nicaragua, who were fighting against the socialist Sandinista government. The U.S. also supported the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, which overthrew the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende in 1973.

Overall, the U.S. utilized the Caribbean for a range of political, economic, and military purposes during the Cold War. While the U.S. was successful in containing the spread of communism in the region, its actions in the Caribbean also had negative consequences, including supporting authoritarian regimes and suppressing democratic movements. Today, the legacy of U.S. involvement in the Caribbean continues to shape the region’s politics and economy but has also created an anti American movement in the region.

By T.L. Neckles