In Latin America

Ronald Reagan changed the landscape of the Western Hemisphere as completely and positively as he changed the rest of the world’s.

Recall the dire situation he inherited in January 1981. Less than two years before, in 1979, both Grenada and Nicaragua had fallen into the hands of Marxist regimes, the New Jewel Movement and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), respectively; both were busily establishing reigns of terror on their own territory and providing support to subversive movements in neighboring countries. In El Salvador, the Communist FMLN guerrilla army was so confident of victory that on January 10, just ten days before Reagan’s inauguration, it launched a “final offensive,” designed to defeat the remaining elements of the Salvadoran Armed Forces and take over the capital of San Salvador. In Cuba, Castro was possibly at the apogee of his global reach, with the Cuban military providing support to violent, radical forces or governments in dozens of countries on three continents: Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. In Cuba itself, the USSR had a strong military presence.

OJ

About the Author

Otto J. Reich

Ronald Reagan changed the landscape of the Western Hemisphere as completely and positively as he changed the rest of the world’s.

Recall the dire situation he inherited in January 1981. Less than two years before, in 1979, both Grenada and Nicaragua had fallen into the hands of Marxist regimes, the New Jewel Movement and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), respectively; both were busily establishing reigns of terror on their own territory and providing support to subversive movements in neighboring countries. In El Salvador, the Communist FMLN guerrilla army was so confident of victory that on January 10, just ten days before Reagan’s inauguration, it launched a “final offensive,” designed to defeat the remaining elements of the Salvadoran Armed Forces and take over the capital of San Salvador. In Cuba, Castro was possibly at the apogee of his global reach, with the Cuban military providing support to violent, radical forces or governments in dozens of countries on three continents: Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. In Cuba itself, the USSR had a strong military presence.