The purpose of this internet assignment is to introduce students to the important--and controversial--topic of covert (or secret) action in the realm of international relations. During the Cold War, covert operations conducted by the superpowers reached unprecedented levels. Nuclear espionage, inflammatory propaganda, and politically motivated assassinations were all part of the vast, conspiratorial enterprises that arose during the global struggle for power and influence waged by the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R (not to mention other important countries like China, Britain, India, and Israel).

This assignment will ask students to examine the topic of covert action from the point of view of U.S. policy toward Latin America. In particular, the assignment focuses on the CIA's activities in two countries, Cuba and Chile. The assignment is not intended to be a comprehansive survey of U.S. covert action during the Cold War, nor will it attempt to balance the picture of covert action by presenting information on similar Soviet activities (which, without a doubt, existed).

The documentary base for this assignment is a diverse collection of documents that have recently been declassified by the U.S. government under the Freedom of Information Act. By linking up with the website of the National Security Archive this assignment will allow students to see with their own eyes a number of primary sources that document the history of covert operations carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other key national security institutions. In short, this assignment will ask students to act as historians by drawing conclusions from a collection of primary source documents.

Where to start? The first step in completing this assignment is to read a brief background article on the history of the Central Intelligence Agency. This "backgrounder" will help you get a sense of the strategic objectives of the institution and its early activities in the Cold War era. Clink here to go to the background story.

What next? The second step in completing this assignment is to choose one of the two possible topics included in the assignment. The first topic focuses on the CIA's covert operations against the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro in Cuba. This was the infamous "Bay of Pigs" operation of 1961, a spectacular failure for the Kennedy Administration, which occured less than two years after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The second topic focuses on the CIA's intervention against the government of Salvador Allende in Chile between the years 1970 and 1973, which eventually helped topple Allende's government and put General Augusto Pinochet in power. The choice of topics--Cuba or Chile--is the student's decision. Each topic includes a background description, a map, a set of primary documents, and a question on which to write a short response paper (250-500 words).

If you choose to do the Cuban topic, follow the steps listed below (if you choose Chile, skip down one section).

Step One: Read this backgrounder on the Cuban case.

Step Two: Follow the link at the bottom of  the backgrounder page to the documents.

Step Three: After reading the backgrounder and the documents answer the question at the bottom of the backgrounder page.

If you choose to do the Chilean topic, follow the steps listed below.

Step One: Read this backgrounder on the Chilean case.

Step Two: Follow the link at the bottom of  the backgrounder page to the documents.

Step Three: After reading the backgrounder and the documents answer the question at the bottom of the backgrounder page.

Finally, you may also choose to examine the supplemental information provided below. This information consists of two additional sets of documents on the CIA's covert operations in Latin America. The first document is an excerpt from a CIA training manual on assassination techniques that was generated prior to the 1954 coup d'etat against the government of Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala, which the CIA played a crucial role in carrying out (in fact, the Guatemala "coup team" was so successful in 1954 that they were reassembled to aid in the Agency's operations in Cuba in the early 1960s). The second group of documents takes you into the highly secretive world of the Reagan Administration's Nicaraguan "Contra" war planners, who attempted to overthrow the revolutionary government of Daniel Ortega in the 1980s. This covert operations group--directed by CIA chief William Casey and National Security Administration staffer Colonel Oliver North--was, of course, exposed to Congress and the public during the1987 Iran-Contra Scandal hearings on Capitol Hill.

Guatemala, 1954: (backgrounder and document)

The "Contra" War in Central America: (backgrounder and documents)