IB History Impact of the Cold War on One Country in Latin America Key Definitions

A state that retains formal sovereignty but depends heavily on a stronger power for economic, military, or diplomatic support.

The cooperation of several countries in which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members. Truman referred the Korean crisis to the UN Security Council because he believed North Korean aggression threatened this principle.

A sudden, illegal overthrow of a government, often carried out by the military. The term comes from French, meaning 'blow of state.'

A form of irregular warfare in which small groups use ambushes, sabotage, raids, and hit-and-run tactics against a larger, conventional military force. The term comes from the Spanish word for 'little war.'

The predominance of one state within a region through military, economic, diplomatic, and institutional power rather than formal colonial rule.

A committee or council that rules a country, usually after seizing power by force. The term is most commonly associated with military rulers of Latin American countries.

A military framework that defined internal ideological opposition as a threat to the state and gave armed forces a political role in eliminating it.

A coordinated intelligence and repression network linking military governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, active from the mid-1970s. With US backing, it enabled the tracking, abduction, torture and killing of political opponents across national borders. Tens of thousands of people were killed or disappeared under the programme.

A regional intergovernmental body founded in 1948 to promote cooperation, democratic governance and collective security among the states of the western hemisphere. During the Cold War, the OAS largely served as a vehicle for US anti-communist policy, including the 1962 expulsion of Cuba. Critics argued it functioned more as an instrument of US hegemony than as a neutral multilateral organization.