The "strange Russian" on "rebellious lands". Latin America in the works of Vasily Chichkov (part 1)

The article examines the development of the Soviet Union's interaction with Latin America after World War II, focusing on the figure of Vasily Mikhailovich Chichkov, a special correspondent for the Pravda, a publicist and playwright. Chichkov became a key participant in the formation of the image of Latin America in the Soviet cultural space. The first part of the article shows the shaping of the "infrastructure" of the Soviet information policy and "soft power" in Latin America, including the interaction of the highest party and state bodies with embassies and institutes of cultural relations, as well as publishing activities. The research is undertaken into Chichkov's understanding of history and socio-political processes in the region, formed during his travels to Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and his creation of a positive image of the Soviet Union in Latin America. The significant influence of the Cold War events and especially the US intervention in Guatemala in 1954 on his worldview is noted. The traveler and journalist analyzed the possibilities of expanding economic, political and scientific cooperation between the USSR and Latin American countries, pointing out the inevitability of reliance on nationalist circles of the middle class interested in weakening the control of foreign monopolies over natural resources and trade. The course that Moscow later took in Latin American relations matched those recommendations in many ways.