How did the cold war affect relations between the United States, Guatemala, Cuba, and Chile?

The relationship between the US in Latin America during the Cold war was complicated. The main foreign policy objective during the Cold War for the US was called containment; which meant stopping the spread of Communism. As a result the US was very protective of Latin America, which was also historically known the US's backyard. The US was very active in making sure that any semblance of communism was quelled all over the region. This is most evidenced in the CIA's involvement in the overthrow of left-leaning Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz in 1953 (which led to a long and bloody civil war), and in the coup against Salvador Allende if Chile in 1973, leading to the bloody dictatorship of Agusto Pinochet. There are many other examples (Argentina, Brazil, and Nicaragua among others). Obviously this strategy failed in Cuba in 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power.

As a result many Latin Americans developed a deep distrust of the United States. This can still be seen today in many countries. In my opinion, it is this blowback that led to leaders like Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega coming to power (coupled with the US focus way from Latin America and towards the Middle East post Cold War).

The Cold War era was a very interesting time in Latin American history, which I highly recommend you study if you are interested in history

These countries were at war with each other, people of the U. S were very fearful during this time because of the threat of war and bombs planted in Cuba. World War 11 had ended years before So our country knew war as a way of life and they didn' t want to have to endure that fight once again. The cold war was a time when all of these countries, especially the U. S and World War 2 was in a fight to be the biggest world power.