This declassified Special National Intelligence Estimate produced by the CIA in 1982 examines Soviet political, military, and economic activities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean during the Cold War. The document was written collaboratively by major American intelligence and defense organizations, including the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, NSA, and the State Department, and therefore is not just a CIA document but a comprehensive government document detailing Soviet threat in the region. As this had a large amount of backgrounds information about Soviet operations, this piece became my secondary basis for my background information (after the Reagan source). The report repeatedly emphasizes how the USSR attempted to exploit political instability, anti-American sentiment, economic weakness, and revolutionary movements throughout Latin America to weaken American influence and strengthen Soviet geopolitical power and influence whenever and wherever possible. The document specifically discusses Soviet cooperation with Cuba, as well as how both Soviet and Soviet-allied operatives attempted to garner support for insurgent groups, provided military advising, gave economic aid, improved trade relationships, created and dispersed propaganda, and attempted to build long-term alliances with nations such as Nicaragua, Grenada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, all things I explored deeper in my sources. According to the report, Soviet strategy also heavily utilized Cuba as an “intermediary”, and, unlike the US, did not directly get involved as often. This gave them a sense of plausible deniability and allowed them to steer away from direct military confrontation with the United States.
This source is important to me because it provides one of the broadest primary-source overviews of Soviet strategy in Latin America during the late Cold War. The document also repeatedly highlights Soviet efforts to build ports, improve trade access, strengthen shipping routes, and create economic dependency relationships with Latin American nations through oil exports, industrial goods, and barter agreements, giving them a reason to not only build up Latin American ports but their own portsas well.
Source
CIA. 1982. Soviet Policies and Activities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Special National Intelligence Estimate SNIE 11/80/90-82. Central Intelligence Agency.