From Development to Dictatorship: Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era (The United States in the World)

An "Outstanding Academic Title" ( Choice , January 2016) Winner of 2015 Thomas McGann Award (Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies) "...a fascinating, original, and impeccably documented book with marked narrative suspense." - former Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, July 2016 During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington's modernization programs in early 1960s' Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country's civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In From Development to Dictatorship , Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID's first years in Bolivia, including the country's 1964 military coup d'état. Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia's turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. In the process, he explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of "development" to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. Challenging the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, From Development to Dictatorship engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War. An "Outstanding Academic Title" (__Choice__, January 2016) Winner of 2015 Thomas McGann Award (Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies) "...a fascinating, original, and impeccably documented book with marked narrative suspense." - former Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, July 2016During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington's modernization programs in early 1960s' Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country's civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In __From Development to Dictatorship__, Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID's first years in Bolivia, including the country's 1964 military coup d'état. Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia's turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. In the process, he explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of "development" to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. Challenging the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, From Development to Dictatorship engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War. Description Contents Reviews Detailed info During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington's modernization programs in early 1960s' Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country's civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In From Development to Dictatorship, Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID's first years in Bolivia, including the country's 1964 military coup d'état. Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia's turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. In the process, he explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of "development" to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. Challenging the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, From Development to Dictatorship engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War.-- Provided by Publisher During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington's modernization programs in early 1960s Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country's civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In From Development to Dictatorship, Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID's first years in Bolivia, including the country's 1964 military coup d'état. Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia's turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. In the process, the book explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of'development'to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. At the same time, the book challenges the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, and it engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War. During the most idealistic years of John F. Kennedy s Alliance for Progress development program, Bolivia was the highest per capita recipient of U.S. foreign aid in Latin America. Nonetheless, Washington s modernization programs in early 1960s' Bolivia ended up on a collision course with important sectors of the country s civil society, including radical workers, rebellious students, and a plethora of rightwing and leftwing political parties. In From Development to Dictatorship, Thomas C. Field Jr. reconstructs the untold story of USAID s first years in Bolivia, including the country s 1964 military coup d etat. Field draws heavily on local sources to demonstrate that Bolivia s turn toward anticommunist, development-oriented dictatorship was the logical and practical culmination of the military-led modernization paradigm that provided the liberal underpinnings of Kennedy s Alliance for Progress. In the process, he explores several underappreciated aspects of Cold War liberal internationalism: the tendency of development to encourage authoritarian solutions to political unrest, the connection between modernization theories and the rise of Third World armed forces, and the intimacy between USAID and CIA covert operations. Challenging the conventional dichotomy between ideology and strategy in international politics, From Development to Dictatorship engages with a growing literature on development as a key rubric for understanding the interconnected processes of decolonization and the Cold War. FROM DEVELOPMENT TO DICTATORSHIP 1 Contents 8 Preface 10 List of Abbreviations 18 Map of South America, Early 1960s 21 Map of Bolivia, Early 1960s 22 Introduction: Ideology as Strategy 26 1. Modernization’s Heavy Hand: The Triangular Plan for Bolivia 35 2. Development as Anticommunism: The Targeting of Bolivian Labor 64 3. “Bitter Medicine”: Military Civic Action and the Battle of Irupata 92 4. Development’s Detractors: Miners, House wives, and the Hostage Crisis at Siglo XX 123 5. Seeds of Revolt: The Making of an Antiauthoritarian Front 156 6. Revolutionary Bolivia Puts On a Uniform: The 1964 Bolivian Coup d’État 184 Conclusion: Development and Its Discontents 214 Notes 222 Bibliography 268 Index 288 Introduction: ideology as strategy Modernization's heavy-hand: the triangular plan for Bolivia Development as anticommunism: the targeting of Bolivian labor "Bitter medicine": military civic action and the battle of Irupata Development's detractors: miners, housewives, and the hostage crisis at Siglo XX Seeds of revolt: the making of an anti-authoritarian front Revolutionary Bolivia puts on a uniform: the 1964 Bolivian coup d'etat Conclusion: development and its discontents Notes Bibliography.