The Cold War laid the foundations for Canadian relations with Latin
America. Despite contradictions and differences among policymakers
and diplomats, throughout the 1945-67 period successive governments
in Ottawa established an overall policy framework incorporating both
security and developmental dimensions. It has proven surprisingly
resilient and has carved out a position quite distinct from that in
Washington. This chapter focuses on the 1945-58 period.

Although Ottawa and Washington shared many major political goals
in the Western Hemisphere, they often disagreed as to the appropriate
means to achieve them, thus precipitating a major distinction between
U.S. and Canadian policy. Canada often had analyses of Latin American
political turmoil and revolution which were clearly independent of those
emanating from Washington. It is important to emphasize, however,
that Ottawa's primary foreign policy focus during this time remained the
North Atlantic generally, and in the realm of international organizations,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the U.N.

Perhaps of greater importance, the Cold War epoch defined Canada
as a charter member of the 'northern club,' while Latin America,
including the advanced Southern Cone countries, became defined as
members of the 'Third World.' Canada emerged from the Second World
War as a privileged haven for investors. If, before 1939, Canada and the
major Latin American countries attracted similar amounts of capital, by
1965 Canada was the site of considerably more foreign investment than
its Latin American counterparts. While growth in Latin America was
strong (except in Argentina, which experienced persistent economic
and political decline), Canada's development was spectacular on into
the 1960s. This divergence into different worlds aggravated the ideolog-
ical factor, and limited the scope of cooperation in the first postwar era.

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