ABSTRACT
The journalist Walter Lippman popularised the term ‘Cold War’ in 1947. It suggested a political, economic, propaganda and intelligence war in contrast to a ‘Hot War’ characterised by direct military engagement. He used the term with reference to the ideological conflict between the USA and USSR backed by their international support forces. While the Cold War ensued between the two Northern ‘superpowers’ from the late 1940s to the late 1980s, Latin America became incorporated into the stand-off as a theatre of ‘hot wars’, so-called ‘surrogate’ or low intensity conflicts, and ideologically inspired political and economic competition.
