Aid or Abuse? A Review of U.S. Police Assistance Programs in Latin America During the Early Cold War

Author

Brianna McNally, Chapman UniversityFollow

Date of Award

12-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

War, Diplomacy and Society

First Advisor

Dr. Kyle Longley

Second Advisor

Dr. William Cumiford

Third Advisor

Dr. Mateo Jarquin

Abstract

During the Cold War, the United States used police assistance programs in under-developed countries to stop the spread of communism. Police aid aimed to improve a country’s economic stability and internal security to curb the rise of communist revolutions. The U.S. government charged the Office of Public Safety (OPS) within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with managing police assistance programs around the world, including in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Despite its seemingly good intentions, the OPS became a short-lived program now known today for its ties to human rights abuses, especially throughout Latin America. Several Latin American Truth Commissions claimed the OPS’s work contributed to some of the most heinous human rights violations committed in South and Central America during the Cold War.

This thesis asks a series of questions. What was the OPS and what did it do in Latin America? Did the OPS’s actions mirror its goals? Did it create a safer region or hurt U.S.-Latin America relations? Did negative public opinion surrounding the OPS create changes in U.S. foreign policy? Finally, with U.S. aid to foreign police banned in the 1970s, why does the U.S. government continue to fund police assistance programs today?

This thesis asserts that the OPS sought to advance U.S. interests in Latin America by bolstering security favorable for economic growth while simultaneously countering communism. However, a review of declassified documents and other primary sources suggests that U.S. officials either misunderstood the OPS’s role or lacked clarity in its purpose. This haziness combined with a lack of oversight created a shadowy program linked to human rights abuses in Latin America and ultimately caused more harm than good for U.S.-Latin American relations.

This thesis uses Guatemala and Brazil as case studies to test this hypothesis. Although active in almost all Latin American countries during the Cold War, much of the data about the OPS’s activities remains classified. However, Brazil and Guatemala have more public information about their respective OPS programs available than others. Additionally, these selections create comprehension about the role of the OPS in two different political, military, and socioeconomic contexts and provide opportunities to compare and contrast the OPS in different cultural settings. An examination of the OPS’s work and lasting impacts in Guatemala and Brazil demonstrate the program’s quick rise and fall, leading to a brief but not insurmountable challenge to U.S.-Latin American foreign relations.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

McNally, Brianna. "Aid or Abuse? A Review of U.S. Police Assistance Programs in Latin America During the Early Cold War." Master's thesis, Chapman University, 2024. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000619