Protests Against Nixon In Latin America

0:11 Hi everyone. This is Carmen and Christina and this is the study as Unknown, a podcaster where we talk about Latin American history. Sometimes it's horrible and deals with tybe topics like racism, corruption, and genocide. But more than that, it's also about community power and resistance and today what are we doing today? Today? We're talking about we were talking about Nixon, unfortunately, but some things happened to him that will bring you joy. And we need joy in times? Do we ever? Do we ever? Yeah? Okay, let's get into it. Okay. So the nineteen fifties were a rough, rough all over in Latin America, mostly because of the United States, of course, always of course, yeah, yeah. Let's remember that during the fifties, the US intervened all over Latin America, supporting dictatorships in the name of any but communism, right right, right, brutal right wing dictatorships were better than anything communist, yeah yeah, yeah, governments.

1:07 Yeah. And so obviously Latin Americans were discontent with the United States because, like you just said, the United States was supporting dictatorial regimes all over Latin America. For example, a topic we did an episode on in nineteen fifty four, the democratically elected Guatemalan president Krkovo Advents was overthrown in a US supported coupe. That's just one example, one example of many. Yeah, And so for some reason the United States thought it was well, not first meetson but because of foreign policy, the US thought it was a good idea to send then the vice president Nixon to tour mostly South America. The US sent then Vice President Nixon to tour Latin America, like a good will type of tour, and the US was feeling partly optimistic because Peron in Argentina had just been deposed, and Arduro Fromdinci, who the US thought would be operative of them or with them, had just been elected.

2:03 And in Colombia Alberto Jerras Camargo had just been elected. And this was someone Nixon had described as quote an enlightened and dedicated statesman. I'm not sure why I didn't look further into that, but it's concerning for nexting to say that's bad coming from Nixon. YEA. So Nixon and his wife pat left for Latin America and in late April slash early May of nineteen fifty eight, and at first things were uneventful. Nixon and his people were gretated and mostly warmly. In Uruay were only about forty students protested. Oh yeah, that's a little bit. In Argentina, he went to a barbecue and attended Frondin C's inauguration, and it seems like there were no issues in Pataguay or Bolivia. It wasn't until nixt In and his crew got to Peru on May seventh, nineteen fifty eight, where they faced discontent of the rock throwing kind. Oh rockings, not stonings, not rockings. The crowd at the San Marcos University, which numbered in the thousands, and Peru threw rocks at him and prevented him from entering the university altogether, chanting Nixon go home. And I guess he was scheduled to do a debate there for some reason. Yeah, and they didn't let her at the original Charlie Kirk if you will, except he was actually no, yeah, he was vice president, yeah, not just some podcaster.

3:26 Yeah. And he got into an argument that I didn't write down here but because I forgot to write about it, but I'm pretty sure was here. Yeah, he got into an argument with one of the students and he's like. Just let me tell you the truth. Oh my god, yeah, the truth. And it's like, yeah, they know the truth. That's what they're protesting you. Why do you think they're there? So Nixon waited into the crowd with only two staff members by his side, and he was he was hit by the rock. In the neck. It degrased him. I grased him and didn't fully look, you know, dangerous, dangerous. Rockings can be dangerous. They can and uh one of his staff members got hit by a rock too.

4:09 Oh no, yeah. Once he got back to the hotel, a protester nay a hero mm hmmm, he got too secured in he he he spent on Nixon's face. Is the No, there's not no. Oh my god. You know how happy that would make you if that was today, there would be footage. Oh yeah, yeah, hands down. So that was in Peru. And then after Nixon's Sumulch's visit to Peru, Eisenhower sent a cable cabled. I'm not sure about the terminology of sending cables, but he sent a message to Nixon. Oh okay, yeah, dear Dick, your courage, patience, and calmness in the demonstration directed against you by radical agitators have brought you new respect and admiration in our country.

4:59 I'm certain that the vast majority of citizens, both in Peru and in the US deplored the incident caused by a few mind Joe thousands. Back to the quote, I know with satisfaction that the Peruvian government has already expressed to you to regret. Indeed, I feel that every participant in the mob will finally come to feel a sense of guilt and embarrassment because of its failure to show a friendly visitor the ordinary measure of courtesy and hospitality. Give them all to pat and warm regards to you quote dumb hospitality, shut the fuck up. And then once again there. Were no issues in Ecuador and Colombia, but things change in Venezuela, where Venezuela, of course had to be Venezuela. Yeah, I'm not surprised there, and this is sorry what years and I think afty eight, I don't know what's going on in Venezuela during this time.

5:47 Well I know, let me. Tell you, oh what went to blow in the blanks a little bit? I do mention a little bit later, of course, that its olons were mad because of what was going on with their brethren all over Latin America, but also because the US supported the dictator who had just been ousted. Yes, yes, and there's a lot of yeah getting yeah warfare going on in this time in Venezuela and yeah interesting. On May thirteenth, nineteen fifty eight, Nixon and his crew arrived in Caracas, Venezuela to continue the good will tour, and things did not get better there, to the point where Nixon had to got his trip short.

6:28 Besides US and justices in Latin America as a whole, one of the reasons Venezuelans were unhappy with the US was because the US had supported the former dictator Marcos Pedez Jimenez, who was overthrown only a few months before Nixon's visit. In fact, Eisenhower had even given Petes Jimenez a medal for meritorious services. Of course, so Nixon was met by a mob pretty much immediately as soon as he got off the plane, who quote purposely disrupted the welcoming ceremony by shouting, blowing whistles, waving derogatory placards, throwing stones, and showering the Nixons human spittle and chewing tobacco and quote human spittle. Yeah, all time award, respectful and like I mean, I don't think it needs to be said, but the Pedes Humanez regime was a brutal one, very repressive.

7:22 Thousands were jailed, many were killed. So and I believe he does return at some point. I'm sure. Yeah. They The crowd also threw bottles, eggs, oranges and shouted things like Yankee, go home, You're not welcomed, American dogs, imperilists, beautiful, some signs Red Nixon, your government is responsible for the Guatemalan tragedy. And they were right. Mm hm. And as the Nixons drove through Karakas, their motor kid was forced to a crawl, and soon after a crowd of several hundred descended on their car, throwing rocks and banging on the windows. Some were injured. Nixon Secretary Rosemary Woods was hit by glass. Vernon Walters, a US Army officer translating serving as a translator, ended up with a mouthful of glass.

8:14 Oh. Bruce Henderson, a reporter from the US who was there during this wrote quote, I was an American and here before my eyes, the Vice President of the United States was on the verge of very possibly being beaten to death end quote. And the crowd started to rock the car back and forth. Imagine that's where Nixon would have met his end. Things might have been different for Vietnam. I don't know. I don't know. I imagine. So the crowd started to rock the car back and forth, and Secret Service agents felt that Nixon's life was in danger, so they drew their guns at the crowd, and in a moment that some apparentheses me in a moment that some feel like it gives too much credit to Nixon, he told the Secret Service agent to hold the fire and ultimately no childs were fired, which whatever. No one died, So that's good. That's good. It's a good things good.

9:06 Imagine how bad that will look out for the US. I mean, that's probably why he did it. Imagine the optics. Yeah, US goes to foreign country and then guns down Yeah, proadtesters. In his memoir, Nixon said he thought that they might be killed during this incident and described it as one of the scariest experiences of his life. And there are different accounts as to how Nixon's motorcate got through the crowd. Some say a press truck was able to block oncoming oncoming traffic in the opposite lane, and so they were able to turn around and escape. And then there's like different variations of this. Okay, okay. Per the Secret Service, the Venezuelan police had declined to intervene and to clear the crowd, and the Venezuelan Foreign minister, who was actually in the car with them with Nixon, Oskara Gatia later said that the police declined into a intervene because the Communists had helped to overthrow but as humans, so they're like, oh, we don't want to mess with them. They helped us, I see. Yeah, they were working together. Yeah, it was a big coalition of all these different groups, including like the military what you would consider like a centrist so yeah, and yeah, the United States was quick to blame the Communists for these protests throughout South America, but in reality, sure the Communists were involved because they're always organizing.

10:31 But this was. Bigger than the Communists, because everybody was mad with reasons. Yeah. Yeah, And the US also mobilized the military when they learned about the protests and attacks against Nixon in Venezuela, and they almost emade it in an operation called Operation Poor Richard's. What a stupid name. Why are they always coming up with the dumbest names? Oh my god, I'm like so. Mad just hearing the name. I phone it right, I'm like, no, are you shitting me? Right now? So a fleet of twelve ships were being ready to enter Venezuela. The US says to cooperate with the Venezuelan government. Others say Eisenhower was preparing to invade the country, and that sounds about right.

11:17 Of course. When these protests were reported on in the United States, I pinted Nixon as a victim. In the May nineteenth, nineteen fifty eight issue of Life magazine, Nixon was depicted angrily pointing his finger in the face of a student protester. And this is during the debates that were supposed to happen that I was telling you about, Yes, And they described the image as quote a righteously angry man armed with nothing but a pistol pointed finger, standing up to a mob of bullies and quote go to to wrath by denial of the right to free speech end quote. Oh my god, Nixon is not the little guy here exactly.

12:00 You're gonna paint the vice president of when the probably at this time the most powerful country in the world and the quote police of the world, as a victim of bullies from a country that had been brutalized by the United States, and you're gonna paint them as a bullies. This is just ridiculous. And of course this was bigger than Nixon, right. They were not protesting Nixon himself. They were protesting the United States. But he was a representative of the United States. Yes, but also there was reason to protest next to himself, not really not at this point yet because he was the vice president, yet I'm thinking of it.

12:42 So yeah. But what I'm saying is painting it as that they were protesting Nixon himself takes away the fault of the United States. And isn't that what they're causing turmoil? Yes, And that's the same The same way they're painting it as a free free speech issue is to gloss over the atrocities the United States and what they had done so far in Latin America during this time. That's why people were mad. They weren't denying Nicks in his free speech. They were saying, fuck the United States. You have terrorized US. Yeah. So yeah, that's just what I wanted to say, like it was bigger than Nixon. Yeah, But of course that's not how the US media painted it. And I found a cool article, like a research academic paper about the Life magazine article, and they wrote about contradicting the United States centric narrative and pointing out the implications of using terms like free speech and how US imperialism had an involvement in this. But the US media gloss over that. Of course. In their article research article, they had alternative videos and pictures and all accounts from student protesters. But I couldn't open it, and I want to open it. What why couldn't you open it?

13:55 I wouldn't let me open it. I don't know. When Nixon returned to the United States, pretty much everyone was kissing its fucking ass. They were kissing cross as. Inhower ordered that Nixon should receive a hero's welcome and gave all federal US government workers in DC the day off so they greet him when he arrived. And so Nixon got off the plane to a cheering crowd of ten thousand people that included Congress leaders and members and ambassadors from most Latin American countries. Are you serious? Yeah? I cannot control I know, I see you. Nixon was painted as calm and collected by most US media, with one exception. The New Republic claimed that the attack on Nixon was a hoax to help Nixon's chances in.

14:43 The upcoming election, which was a. Take called a unique take Yeah yeah in Venezuela. After the protests, most of the presidential candidates for the nineteen fifty eight election denounced the attack, except for the incumbent president, Admiral Lata Saban Lada Saban, who said he would have joined the protests if he were a student. I love that. And some speculate that the attacks knicks in faith during the Good World Tour highly influenced his attitude for Latin America and his later support of US intervention in the region, including supporting dictators, which the.

15:26 US are doing anyway they were going to do anyway. Yeah. Nixon later said that all of Latin America, except for Columbia, who notably greeted him normally during the tour, was too mature for democratic government and would be better run as authoritarian regimes, and he also said that about France, Italy, hate Nixon. Yes, there was protests in Italy Rome. I didn't know that. I saw a sign of someone in Rome. They're holding a sign that says Nixon and they put the Nazi symbol. Oh wow, oh wow, that was in Rome. Yes, that was Rome. Wow. I mean they had a reason to say that. Yeah. Yeah, No, wonder if he said that about them? Yeah. Yeah.

16:09 This incident also made US policy makers aware of the growing resentment against the US policies in Latin America, which he was going to be received with open arms. Yeah. And by the end of nineteen fifty eight, the US National Security Council listed Yankee phobia as a key challenge to US interests in Latin America. No fucking way. Yeah, Yankee phobia. Yep, I do have that. Yeah, and yeah, those were the protests against Nixon in nineteen fifty eight. Wow. More power to the places that met him with that fierce prote Power to the people who were resisting US imperializamba.

17:00 This reminds me of sorry, remind me again, when Panama was invaded. That was Bush senior, Bush Senior, Yeah, elder Bush went to Panama after the US invasion, and he was similarly met with the crowd. Did he had to leave? I don't even think. He finished his tour, his speaking engagement that he had scheduled in Panama. The car like it couldn't even move, similar to be overturned. Yes, they had to leave. They were ready to use because there was the US military was already there, so they were like ready to gun down more because again a lot of people dine in Panama. Yeah, more than they have ever admitted to.

17:41 And there's footage of this one because this was in the what late nineteen it would be in the late eighties, early nineties. Yeah, yeah, so yeah, there's footage of this one and you can actually see it in the Panama Deception documentary. Oh I just need to watch that. Yeah, the very long documentary. I'm also a little bit cheap where you have that like ninety ninety thirteen style. Yeah. Yeah, they're like this is very dramatic, but so informative. They really went in there and talked to the people, and there's footage of his car not even being able to move, being shaken, the windows were shattered. Yeah, he was met with fierce resistance and then they again they thought they were going to be met with open arms.

18:27 It's like what you expect after you write havoc all over the world to be received with open arms. No, people are mad as it should have been and continue to be. Yeah. Yeah, I'm waiting for the World Cup whenever the US enters a match for them to be booed to oblivion, isn't it. I don't think happened here. Oh yeah, well no, there's gonna be games in Mexico. Yeah too, But I'm like, how is that gonna work? Like, I don't think that would be aired. Yeah, I think they were like cutting, Well they did that and NFL games when Trump has been there and they blew him, they they quiet. Down the booze. Yeah yeah, so okay, well, thanks for this joyful episode we really needed. That brought me joy, and that brought me I'm smiling for the first time.

19:18 But dude, how petty, really, how petty would have been for Nixon to be like, oh, I'll never get out of this Latin America. Besides that, they you know, we're already going to know. I believe that. I believe that. I believe that too. No, that's my theory of events of motivation, and I agree, yeah, no, I agree very Stephen Miller like, you know, yeah, yeah, But with that we'll end this episode and we'll get into the episode where we can talk say by right, yes, I was about to say sorry, I thought you weren't. They're just going to go straight to yappings if anyone else, to heroes. Yep. We yap about current events, the current horrors, and yet we persist when things are lighter we talk about in a drama. But things have not been light, Okay, they have not, So we have been talking about the terrors.

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