Archaeological Excavations in Disappeared Diplomacy. The Relations of the GDR with Latin America

Abstract

The German Democratic Republic (GDR), as a failed political system, has been converted into a historical phenomenon for researchers and columnists. With the opening of the archives of the German Unified Socialist Party and the various parties and organizations of the GDR,the author of this article analyses the international relations of this disappeared country and more specifically its foreign policy regarding Latin America. For this purpose he divides the study into two periods: from 1949 to 1955, the year in which the GDR was bestowed its sovereignty, although not its real independence from the USSR, and from 1955 until its disappearance. The GDR’s foreign relations with Latin America were of little importance in comparisonwith those ties it maintained with Europe and Africa. Of these, 75% were centred on relations with Cuba, Nicaragua and Chile (especially during the period of the Unidad Popular). The object of the study is examined from a triple perspective: its strategic role and political relations, its economic weight and the ideological dimension.