National Park Service Chamizal U.S. Department of the Interior Chamizal National Memorial

The Cold War and the Chamizal Dispute “Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you” - Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union 1958 - 1964

From 1945 and 1989 the world was True to its word, the Soviet Union divided by the Cold War between the began setting up communist regimes United States and Soviet Union. It was throughout Eastern Europe. President an ideological war: U.S. democracy Harry Truman reacted by calling on and capitalism versus Soviet Union Congress for a $400,000,000 foreign communism.* But whereas a “hot aid package to help Greece defend war” involves two countries or itself. Also, by Secretary of State peoples fighting directly against each George Marshall’s urging, the U.S. other, the Cold War was an indirect gave significant monetary aide to war. The U.S. and the Soviet Union western European nations to repel never fought it out on the battlefield communism. or in the air because to do so would At the same time that the U.S. was have been utterly MAD—Mutually combating communism by giving Assured Destruction; both countries money to Europe, the Berlin Blockade had nuclear warheads that could and Berlin Airlift occurred. At the deplete an entire country of its end of World War II, Berlin had been population in a nanosecond. The divided in half, with East Berlin being Cold War is a dense topic that could occupied by the Soviet Union and be studied extensively. However, for West Berlin being controlled by the those of us who do not have that “West”. The Blockade started when amount of time or interest, this brief the Soviet Union blocked railroad and essay will introduce key concepts and vehicular traffic into West Berlin in an events of the Cold War and how they attempt to starve West Berliners. The relate to the Chamizal Dispute and Soviet Union hoped that West Berlin Chamizal Convention of 1963. would succumb to them. However, Although the U.S., the Soviet Union, the allies of France, Great Britain, and Great Britain were allies in World and the U.S. solved the problem by War II, by the end of the war, there flying airplane after airplane into West was severe tension between them. Berlin to feed the citizens. West Berlin The Soviet Union had taken the brunt actually ended up with a surplus of of the war, losing 25,000,000 citizens food! The Berlin Blockade ended and soldiers (14 percent of the up being an embarrassment for the Soviet population) to Nazi Germany. Soviet Union. The Soviet Union wanted to set up During the Korean War (1950-1953) “puppet governments” throughout the U.S. military intervened directly. Eastern Europe to make sure that Similar to Berlin, Korea had been they would never be attacked again. divided into two sovereign countries The U.S. and Great Britain saw this at the end of World War II—a as a threat, believing that the Soviet communist north and free-republic government was attempting to diffuse south. In 1950 North Korea called its gospel of communism throughout for a unified, communist Korea, and the world.

A stressed out JFK and U.S. Secretary of * It must be noted that Soviet Union “communism” does not refer precisely to the dictionary Defense Robert McNamara during the definition of communism. Just like some of us draw a distinction between U.S. democracy and a Cuban Missile Crisis. true democracy, there was a difference between true communism (socialism) and Soviet Union Wikipedia Photo communism. attacked South Korea. The Soviet as their own, and the land dispute Union supplied North Korea with was a thorn in their relationship for money, ammunition, and special decades. fighter pilots. The U.S. did not want Kennedy visited Lopez Mateos to communism to spread anymore than improve the relationship between the it already had. As a result, thousands two countries. After all, if Mexico was of U.S. troops fought alongside South an ally of the U.S., then Mexico would Korean forces to keep the country not be an ally of the Soviet Union. “free.” By 1953, North Korea had The two presidents decided on a been forced to retreat and the war plan of action to settle their border ended. To this day, North Korea dispute: the Chamizal Convention remains communist while South of 1963. Through the Convention, Korea remains a republic. the Chamizal tract was given back to Another defining event of the Cold Mexico. The Convention established War was the Cuban Missile Crisis a relationship of friendship, of 1962. It is widely regarded as the diplomacy, peace, and understanding closest the superpowers ever came between the two nations. to nuclear warfare. The crisis started when communist leader Fidel Castro After the Chamizal Convention of and his rebels overthrew the Bautista 1963 settled the Chamizal dispute, government and took power in 1959. the next major event in the Cold The U.S. then trained a group of War was the Vietnam War, which Cubans to oust him from office, but occurred from 1959 to 1975. Similar the coup failed. Castro, knowing the to the Korean War, Vietnam was U.S. was already against him, allied divided in two, a communist North his island nation with the Soviet Vietnam and a “free” South Vietnam. Union. The U.S. Central Intelligence North Vietnam wanted to unite with Agency (CIA) attempted several South Vietnam, which meant turning covert operations to oust Castro, but South Vietnam communist. In 1964, the missions failed again. It was at this Lyndon Baines Johnson sent tens of point that a reconnaissance mission thousands of U.S. soldiers into South by the U.S. military discovered Vietnam to help defend the country nuclear missiles in Cuba. After from communist invasion. But even President Kennedy was notified with all the U.S. troops and all the about the nuclear warheads, several bombings in the Vietnam countryside, intense days of negotiations occurred communism ran supreme. The U.S. between the U.S., the Soviet Union, withdrew its troops in the early 1970s and Cuba. Luckily, an agreement and to this day Vietnam is a socialist was met and the Soviet Union took (communist) state. its missiles out of Cuba. Catastrophe The Cold War is a titanic in the was thus avoided. ocean of world history. It is often The same year that the Cuban Missile seen through a negative lens. For Crisis occurred, Kennedy met with example, the Vietnam and Korean President Adolfo Lopez Mateos of Wars are not exactly happy events in Mexico. The U.S. and Mexico were our history. However, a positive event not on the friendliest terms and in the Cold War is often overlooked: hadn’t been for the past hundred the peaceful resolution of a century- years. The tension between the two long border dispute between the nations was largely due to a section U.S. and Mexico. Chamizal National of land known as the Chamizal tract, Memorial promotes the idea that which was located along the Rio conflicts, no matter how big or small, Grande between El Paso and Ciudad can be resolved through diplomacy, Juarez. Due to the shifting course not warfare. We can all learn from of the river, the Chamizal tract went the many events of the Cold War, but A U.S. Air Force B-52 Bomber hits a Korean from being on the Mexican side of the most importantly we should dwell on supply base, circa 1951. river to being on the U.S. side. Both and promote the good that came out Wikipedia Photo nations claimed the Chamizal tract of it.