EMERGENCE OF THE UNITED
STATES AS A POWER IN
LATIN AMERICA
From the Monroe Doctrine to the Cold
War
Monroe Doctrine
United States – neutral during the Latin American
struggle for independence
 Washington views the Holy Alliance as a threat
 President Monroe’s speech of December 1823

– Old and new world different
– No new colonies
– Threat to independence of Latin American countries
viewed by the United States as a threat to itself
Texas and the War with
Mexico

Victory at San Jacinto  U. S. assault Chapultepec
(1836) leads to
Castle (Mexico City)
recognition of Texas
independence
 Boundary dispute leads
President Polk to attack
Mexico in 1846
 Fighting is one-sided
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)
Mexico Loses 40% of its territory
U.S. pays Mexico $15,000,000
•
U
From the Civil War to the
Spanish-American War

Threats against the French intrusion into
Mexico
 Richard Olney and Venezuela boundary
dispute with British Guiana (1895)
 Spanish American War establishes U.S.
hegemony in the Caribbean.
 Platt Amendment raises more resentment
Final push for the Panama
Canal -1

Hay - Paunceforte removes the British in
1901
– U.S. had right to build & control canal
– U.S. had right to fortify canal (revision)

Philippe Bunau-Varilla swings TR and the
Republicans to support the Panama route
Final push for the Panama
Canal -2

Colombia reacts negatively to Hay-Herrán Treaty
(canal across Colombian province of Panama)
– Too much land
– Not enough money

Bunau-Varilla: funds/organizes Panama revolt

U.S.S. Nashville docks a Colon (Nov, 1903)
– Revolt against Panamanian rule (Nov. 3)
– TR recognizes new nation of Panama three days later
Panama Canal Treaty
U. S. – sovereign rights in
the canal “in perpetuity”
Panama paid $10 million
and $250,000 annually
TR “I took the Canal
Zone and let congress
debate”
Big Stick in the
Caribbean
TR: international police power
Roosevelt Corollary to
Monroe Doctrine
Occupation of Cuba
Taft and “Dollar Diplomacy”
Woodrow Wilson’s
“Civilizing
Interventions
Haiti, Dominican
Republic, Cuba,
Nicaragua &
Mexico
Goal: Teaching the
Latin Americas to
elect good men
Increased
dependency of
Caribbean Basin
governments on
the United States
Post-interventionist policies
1920’s

Elevated costs lead Republican presidents to
dismantle Caribbean Basin protectorates
 Example of Nicaragua
– Marines leave in 1933
– Somoza dynasty rules until 1979

Herbert Hoover abandons interventionist stance of
his immediate predecessors
– Clark memorandum repudiates Roosevelt Corollary
– U.S. dominates the Caribbean Basic


Economically
Militarily
Good Neighbor Policy of FDR
(New spirit toward Latin America)

Substantive Change
– Abrogates Platt Amendment
(1934)
– Non-intervention when
Cardenas nationalizes
holdings of U.S. petroleum
companies

1938 Eighth Pan
American Conference
– Clash with ABC countries
over severity of axis threat
– Commercial ties with
Germany/Italy maintained
World War II Increases U.S.
Influence in Latin America

Washington sends military advisors to
counterbalance their Axis counterparts
 After Pearl Harbor II most Latin American
countries declared war on the Axis powers
– Massive amounts of military equipment went to Latin
America
– Construction of Pan American Highway

Chaupultepec Agreement set stage for regional
international reorganization
AFTER WORLD WAR II

Principal focus on strategic balance of power
between the U.S. and USSR
 In this context Latin America marginally
important
– Second level military powers, at best
– Region relatively isolated from Cold War cockpit
Latin American perceptions of
their security needs changed
dramatically in the 1960’s

Interests of the United States and Latin
American countries began to diverge
 Promise of economic development was
unfulfilled
 U.S. “limited” interpretation of of collective
hemispheric security appeared increasingly
limited to the Latin Americans
Factors that influenced changes in the
security perspective of Latin Americans I

Emergence of Latin American nations as economic
and entities with extensive international contacts
 Long-simmering desire to assert independence for
U.S. domination
 U.S. pursuit of detente in 1960’s undermined the
importance of Cold War alliances
 Vietnam war lessened the attractiveness of the U.S.
as a model
Factors that influenced changes
in the security perspective of
Latin Americans II
Emergence of North – South ties diminished
importance of East-West conflict
 Differences with U.S. over specific hemispheric
policy issues

–
–
–
–
Arms transfers
Trade
Cuba
Economic development strategies
The views of official Washington
regarding U.S. Security Interests (in
Latin America) during the early and
middle phases of the Cold War

Economic interests increasingly important
– L.A. provided 14% of U.S. exports/imports
– Received 18% of U.S investment abroad

Tranquility in the region remained cornerstone of
U.S. capability to project its power abroad
 Inter-American system did not provide a
satisfactory basis for regional collective security
The three sub-regions of Latin
America (Caribbean Basin,
South Atlantic; West Coast of
South America): each presented
a distinctive challenge for
United States national security
between 1947 and 1976
U.S. Security Interests in the
Caribbean Basin: highest
concern

Economic and commercial interests
– Raw material
– Transport of energy
– Naval traffic between Atlantic and Pacific
oceans
U.S. Security Interests in the
Caribbean Basin: Political and
Strategic

Caribbean was a critical military link in U.S.
global defense purposes
 Fear of the Soviet Union’s blue water fleet – with
its Cuban bases
 High potential for anti-americanism and the fear
of more “Cubas”
 Decline in U.S. dominance would be interpreted
elsewhere as decline in U.S. power
Factors considered in
assessing U.S. interests in the
Caribbean

Strategic damage resulting from a denial of raw
materials
 Potential of anti-americanism to challenge concept
of hemispheric solidarity
 Signals that sub-regional developments sent to the
USSR
 Importance that the region remain secure for the
transit of U.S. vessels
U.S. Security Interests in the
South Atlantic

Economic and commercial interests
– Importance of Cape of Good Hope in the event
of Middle East crisis
– Development of deep seabed and offshore
petroleum exploration
– Access to Antarctica
– Commercial interests of Latin American allies
in the South Atlantic
U.S. Security Interests in the
South Atlantic:
political/strategic

Political instability in Southern Africa and the
Soviet’s inclination to exploit the situation
 Dealing with the aspirations of South American
countries to have a naval presence in the South
Atlantic
 Growing capability of Soviet’s blue water navy
 Growing military capabilities of Brazil and
Argentina – and the problem of their nuclear
rivalry
Constraints on Cold War Era
Cooperation between the U.S.
and South Atlantic Countries

Hesitancy of Latin Americans to take on
additional military expenditures related to cold
war considerations
 Pressures from many nationalists (and leftists) to
pursue a policy of non-alignment
 European desire to provide high technology to
increase the national power capabilities of South
Atlantic countries
As the Cold War began to
draw down official Washington
began to rethink its national
security interests in Latin
America