Cold War Season 1 Episode 18 Backyard

The United States has always regarded Latin America as its own back yard. In 1954, Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz is overthrown by U.S.-backed forces. Arbenz is leftist, not Communist. The United States seeks to destabilize leftist governments and aligns itself with governments on the right, no matter how unsavory. In 1973, the CIA helps overthrow Chilean President Salvador Allende. Beginning in 1979, the United States gives aid to Nicaraguan counter revolutionaries, the Contras. In the 1980s, it supports right-wing extremists in El Salvador. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan sends in the marines to overthrow the government in Grenada.