Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

The Fifth Freedom
including even the dispatch of nuclear armed SAC bombers to
Nicaragua, “meant, it would appear, as a signal of American
commitment.” 20 When in desperation the Guatemalan government
sought military aid from the Soviet bloc, much to the delight of the US
government, this fact was used as part of the official justification for
restoring a military dictatorship. Shortly before the CIA coup,
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Toriello commented accurately that US
policy amounts to
cataloguing as ‘Communism’ every manifestation of nationalism or
economic independence, any desire for social progress, any
intellectual curiosity, and any interest in progressive or liberal
reforms . . . any Latin American government that exerts itself to
bring about a truly national program which affects the interests of
the powerful foreign companies, in whose hands the wealth and
the basic resources in large part repose in Latin America, will be
pointed out as Communist; it will be accused of being a threat to
continental security and making a breach in continental solidarity,
and so will be threatened with foreign intervention.
Toriello’s words were applauded by his Latin American colleagues,
who then proceeded to line up against him in support of John Foster
Dulles’s resolution opposing the threat of “international communism” in
Guatemala (issued in Caracas, the capital of one of the most notorious
dictatorships in the continent), in the hope of receiving US aid. 21
We might note that the dual Latin American reaction to Toriello’s
words has been duplicated more than once. UN correspondent Louis
Wiznitzer, commenting on how “United States standing in Latin America
has reached an all-time low” because of US actions against Nicaragua,
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
87