ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a different angle to the study of the relations between the USSR and Latin America. It suggests that a key factor to the relations has been the perception Latin Americans have of the Soviet Union. The chapter explores two leftists groups' perceptions of the USSR, assuming that the perceptions are essential to understanding the relations between the groups and the Soviet Union and focuses on some different Latin American leftist groups. It argues that the study of regional significant political or economic actors, in terms of their perceptions of the USSR and their insertion in domestic conflicts, is central for an assessment of Soviet influence. Conflicts among political forces representing different group interests in each particular country no doubt shape the relations between Latin American nations and the Soviet Union. The lessons of Chile have become a permanent reminder of the USSR's distant attitude toward revolutionaries in Latin America and in the Third World.
