State Department Historian’s Office Publishes Reagan-Era South America Chapters in Foreign Relations Series

The Department of State today released the chapters covering Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XVI, South America. This volume belongs to a subseries of the Foreign Relations collection that chronicles the foreign policy decision-making process of the Ronald Reagan administration.

The Ecuador chapter examines the Reagan administration’s efforts to strengthen democratic governance and deepen collaboration on narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and economic stabilization. The Paraguay chapter traces the evolution of U.S. policy toward the Alfredo Stroessner government as it resisted democratic reform, along with the Reagan administration’s “3-Ds” framework encompassing drugs, democracy, and derechos humanos (human rights). The Uruguay chapter covers the administration’s support for democratization in that country, alongside bilateral trade negotiations, U.S. advocacy for structural economic reforms, and the reintegration of the Uruguayan military into civilian life. The Venezuela chapter addresses the development of U.S.–Venezuelan arms sales policies, the state visits of Presidents Luis Herrera Campins and Jaime Lusinchi to the United States, and Venezuela’s role as a regional interlocutor.

Additional chapters in this volume will be published as they are cleared for public release.

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