I'm currently an undergrad in a class about the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. We've briefly discussed the world wide influence of the Soviet state in the mid-late 20th century and I was hoping some experts could give me some further readings on the subject, particularly with respect to Latin America (my main interest is in Cuba, but I'm looking to get a broad reading list).
Hello. Unfortunately the late 20th century isn't my focus, but you might find this documentary useful.
The documentary is called Los Bolos en Cuba (The Bowling Pins in Cuba). Bowling pin (bolo) was the popular term for Russians because they were tall, white, and very stiff, as opposed to the more relaxed and informal atmosphere typical to Caribbean cultures.
The only downside is that the documentary is in Spanish with no subtitles. That and the fact that it isn't a hard hitting piece of investigative journalism or a serious academic work. Instead it is basically a series of interviews with Cubans who lived through the Soviet era, especially those who traveled to the Eastern Bloc, and Russians who came to Cuba to live and happened to stay on after the fall of the USSR.