The history of US-Latin American relations

General Description
• The term paper is an opportunity to demonstrate your assimilation of the conceptual framework developed throughout this course by applying it to the analysis of three critical episodes of the history of US-Latin American relations. These episodes are:
(a) The CIA-led cover operation in Guatemala, 1954
(b) The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, 1961. 
(c) The El Mozote Massacre, El Salvador, 1981
Approach
• By adopting a comparative approach you are expected to draw some general conclusions regarding the overall US-Latin American relationships. The following elements will define the quality of your work: 
(a) Fully understanding the episodes under study by consulting several sources (What exactly happened?)
(b) Placing these episodes into their broader national and international context so you can determine their impact for the different actors involved (Who and how were them affected by this?) 
(c) Defining clear comparative criteria so you can give your paper a coherent structure (What am I going to compare?) 
(d) Through systematic contrast try to extract some common patterns of action and behavior. 

Sources to be used (if you can’t access the books let me know ASAP)

1. Nick Cullather, Secret History: The CIA’s Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 1952-1954, California: Stanford University Press; 2nd edition, 2006. 
2. Howard Jones, The Bay of Pigs, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 
3. Ken Danner, The Massacre at El Mozote. A Parable of the Cold War, New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 1993.