Reddit mentions of Addicted to Failure: U.S. Security Policy in Latin America and the Andean Region (Latin American Silhouettes)

Well this will make it a lot easier for you, because the biggest barrier to getting really in depth is typically language. You will have access to lots of Spanish media. I find that history tends to be more fun at first when you have personal connections to countries or events, so after you learn about the basic history of colonization, I urge you to explore the history of Peru, and of Colombia/Venezuela/Panama. Did you know that Panama was actually a province of Colombia until the US decided to locate the canal there and supported Panamanian independence?

Start with the book I mentioned earlier, then I would suggest The Peru Reader: http://www.amazon.com/The-Peru-Reader-History-Politics/dp/0822336499/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0D5CS5PZ6FVTDQCMTVJ4. I have used both The Mexico Reader and The Argentina Reader in university, and assume the Peru Reader is of equal quality.

After that I would suggest couple of books on modern politics: Addicted to Failure: US Security Policy in the Andean Region and then and then Politics in Latin America by Charles H Blake. The drug war and US policy is hugely important and has repercussions across virtually all countries in Latin America.


http://www.amazon.com/Addicted-Failure-Security-American-Silhouettes/dp/0742540979/ref=sr_1_67?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416496742&sr=1-67&keywords=peru+drug+war

http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Latin-America-Charles-Blake/dp/0618802517/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416496989&sr=1-1&keywords=politics+in+latin+america

An biography or book about Simon Bolivar would also be ideal, given his role in shaping the nations of the Andean Region of South America.

Another poster mentioned Eduardo Galeano -- he is a brilliant writer, one of my favorites, but his books tend to be a bit polemic and philosophical...I definitely recommend reading his books in Spanish, but not until you already have a good grasp of history to understand a lot of the allusions and topics his writing touches upon.

And if you are comfortable reading academic texts in Spanish, Latinoamerica. Las ciudades y las ideas (Spanish Edition) by Jose Romero.

http://www.amazon.com/Latinoamerica-Las-ciudades-ideas-Spanish/dp/9876291521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416497447&sr=1-1&keywords=jose+luis+romero

Anyhow this is more than enough to get you started, unless you had a more specific topic you want to learn about. Don't ignore literature, movies, or online newspapers either!! Going once or twice a week to some of the more major newspapers of specific countries to read articles is always interesting.