Under The Eagle: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Caribbean

by Jenny Pearce

Under the U.S. intervention in Central America and the Caribbean by Jenny Pearce with forword by Richard Gott - South End Press 1982

Genres: History, Politics, American History

295 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Angel Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't realize how closely tied the issue of immigration and war are, specifically in the context of immigration as a release valve for social pressure, which if left unchecked, could lead to war because of already existing tensions that require a removal of people.

For example, lots of Salvadorans would leave to Honduras because jobs were hard to find at home. The Salvadoran economy was large dependent on income earned from coffee and cotton. These crops do not need hands year round to tend them. As such unemployment was high for ~8 months of the year. If this unemployment was left uncheck, social pressure would be too much for the Salvadoran elite, whose income largely came from those cash crops. So Salvadorans went to Honduras.

A brief 4-Day War between El Salvador and Honduras resulted in the expulsion of Salvadoran immigrants from Honduras and the closing of Honduran borders to Salvadoran immigrants. We see the ways neo-colonialism weaponizes immigration and rationalizes it.

Anyway I didn't realize the nature of US financial aid to these Caribbean and Central American states. Reminds me of all the "aid" the USA sends to Ukraine and Israel. Also reminds me of a conversation I had with an uncle when I told him to watch out with USAID since he mentioned doing some work with them.

There was one part that made me facepalm in the book. This SOB Major D'Abuisson (very close ties to the USA) was locked up and arrested after a failed coup attempt in El Salvador in April 1980. His supporters were outside his cell chanting "Viva Reagan" and "Viva Jesse Helms" 🤦💀 Central American reactionaries man

I'll end on this: The maps were nice.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly dry academic treatise on U.S. intervention in Central America and the Caribbean. Published in 1982, it's necessarily an incomplete history that misses out on Iran-Contra, the Panama invasion and other notable variations on the theme. Still, it is a valuable piece of historical research, stuffed with information. The explanation and analysis of U.S. economic dominance in the region is especially valuable, since that often takes a backseat to the political and military interventions that normally grab headlines, but is in many ways more important to understand.