Cartas de Norteamerica: Life en Español and the Cultural Cold War (1953-1957)

Abstract

In 1953, in the middle of the Cold War, Time-Life’s US-based Life magazine launched a Spanish-language version aimed at getting closer to the Latin American public, spreading the American way, Americanism and promote anti communism in the subcontinent. The period was notable by a series of organizations and treaties with the propose of regulating inter-American relations, under the hegemony of the United States. It is also characterized by the implementation of state agencies and programs designed to promote a cultural policy intended to achieve global hegemony, a strategy called “psychological warfare”. Life en Español magazine, directed by Henry Luce, integrated the wide network of collaborators who helped to realize this politicalcultural project of the United States. In this sense, from the theoretical perspective of Soft Power by Joseph Nye, the article discusses the relation of the publication in the Spanish language with the North American strategic objectives in the cultural field.