This session examines relations between the United States and Latin America in the Cold War era, with an emphasis on political and ideological developments during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. By tracking the footsteps of diplomats, scholars, and political activists that connected the Americas, it brings new light to the history of socialism, populism, Third Worldism, and neoliberalism—among other topics—in specific Latin American countries and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. Transnational connections between “Anglo” and “Latin” Americans, this session posits, led to productive dialogues and creative misunderstandings, which in turn shaped the emergence and development of important political categories and systems of knowledge. All presenters address in one way or another the role of the United States in the region, but their questions are not limited to probe U.S. influence or hegemony. Alongside the U.S. State Department, a plethora of universities, foundations, and informal networks of individuals take center stage here, and the papers take us from the United States to Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Some papers focus on Americans who traveled to or settled in Latin America, others document the lives of Latin Americans in the United States, and still others trace elusive conceptual frameworks that traveled across national borders. The presenters are themselves scholars from different countries, at different stages in their careers. The commentator is the most senior of them, and she has done research on transnational actors in the United States, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Chile. The target audience are scholars of either the United States or Latin America interested in contemporary history.