This article analyzes Soviet travelogues on Latin America from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s as a distinctive type of historical source reflecting the mechanisms through which «self» and «other» were represented within the cultural dimension of the Cold War. The author adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining comparative historical analysis, imagology, and postcolonial theory, while examining travel narratives as an instrument of the USSR’s «representational machinery». The study draws primarily on texts written by international affairs journalists (Vasily Chichkov, Oleg Ignatiev, Alexei Adzhubei), the writer Sergei Smirnov, the geographer Stanislav Kalesnik, and the Communist Party official Nikolai Rodionov. Moving beyond bookish exoticism, Soviet travelers constructed new images of the region, sharing vivid impressions of nature and encounters with representatives of various professions and social groups. Typical travelogue narratives included descriptions of stark social inequality, the suffering of the popular masses, and the loss of Latin American nations’ sovereignty over natural resources in favor of the United States. For Latin Americans, the Soviet person also appeared as an «exotic» figure: perceptions ranged from naive curiosity and admiration to suspicion fueled by anti-Soviet propaganda. These writings vividly reflect the evolution of Soviet foreign-policy attitudes toward Latin America: from cautious hopes pinned on nationalist reformism, to enthusiasm surrounding the victory of the Cuban Revolution, and later to a recognition of the region’s limited revolutionary potential and the search for partners among «progressive» military regimes. In this sense, travelogues served as a means of constructing an «imaginary empire», a sphere of enduring Soviet influence shaped through cultural diplomacy and reinforced by concrete representations of Latin American realities that complemented ideological clichés.