Synopsis
Examining the motives, deeds, and tragic repercussions of their intervention in the Amazon and Central America, a study reveals the legacies of Nelson Rockefeller, who secured natural resources for American corporations, and Cameron Townsend, who saved souls at any cost.
Reviews
Nelson Rockefeller, who died in 1979, owned vast Latin American real estate and cattle ranching, mining, industrial and financial interests centered in Brazil. To protect his empire and secure Third World assets for exploitation by U.S. capitalism, Rockefeller-a top Latin American adviser to presidents from FDR to Nixon, and Ford's vice-president-played a dominant role in shaping the U.S.'s interventionist policy in Latin America, according to this blistering expose based on 18 years of research. Rockefeller, as President Eisenhower's special assistant for Cold War strategy, oversaw the CIA's covert operations abroad and was privy to assassination plots and mind-control experiments, the authors maintain. Colby (DuPont: Behind the Nylon Curtain) and his wife, Dennett, a freelance journalist, charge that Rockefeller, his banks and their allies, working with the CIA, bolstered repressive regimes in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay. Forcible dislocation of native peoples, hunger, disease, genocide and the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rain forest are the legacy of these policies, in the authors' analysis. Another key player in this massive narrative is ultraconservative William Cameron Townsend (1896-1982), founder of the Protestant missionary organization Wycliffe Bible Translators, which worked in concert with Rockefeller and which the authors accuse of destroying indigenous peoples' cultural values to abet penetration by U.S. businesses. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A movie based on a 1965 novel by Peter Matthiessen entitled At Play in the Fields of the Lord was released two years ago; it showed the devastating impact of overzealous missionaries and the destruction of the Amazonian rain forest upon native life and culture. While the book had been generally well received, the movie was not. Described by one critic as an uninteresting and endless saga, the film would perhaps have done better if it had added some plot twists based on astounding elements from Colby and Dennett's blockbuster of a story. Husband and wife, Colby is author of DuPont: Behind the Nylon Curtain (1974), and Dennett has been researching and writing this book for 18 years. Charging virtual genocide, the authors document the deaths or uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Amazonian and South and Central American tribal peoples. They describe an unlikely and sinister alliance among the Rockefeller family, America's largest missionary organization, and the American government--an alliance formed to benefit each of its members. The Rockefellers wanted oil and other natural resources; the Wycliffe Bible Translators wanted to spread the Word of God; and the American government wanted to fight communism. This is a disheartening, tragic story that needs to be told and will attract much attention. David Rouse
Exploring the genocide of Natives in the Amazon in the mid-1970s, the authors discovered information about Nelson Rockefeller that they believed merited further research. The resulting work, a detailed exploration of the intertwining of two major figures-Rockefeller, politician and Eastern establishment expert on Latin America, and William Cameron Townsend, confidant of Mexican president Lazaro Cardendas and founder of the Wycliffe Bible Translators-and their life's work in the region. Colby and Dennett argue that both men colonized Latin America, the first economically, the second culturally, in collusion with certain U.S. government interests over many decades. Their actions had severe consequences detrimental to development in the region, specifically to the human rights and social evolution of indigenous groups. This damning thesis, based on substantial field research, interviews, and fresh documentation, will provoke considerable controversy. Highly recommended.
--Roderic A. Camp, Latin American Ctr., Tulane Univ., New Orleans
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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