The presentation exposes key foreign policies strategies that the USA has practiced towards Latin America from the 19th century until the 21st century.

1. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
OF LATIN AMERICA
Topic 3. Latin America hemispheric linkages
Latin America – US relationship
Dr. Jacqueline LAGUARDIA MARTINEZ
Jacqueline.Laguardia-Martinez@sta.uwi.edu

2. Latin America – US relationship
• After independence, Latin America was under economic stress.
• The newly independent nations opened to foreign investment
and ask for loans and trade.
• The main economic investors and lenders were UK and the USA.
• Due to economic interests, the U.S. considered Latin America as
a natural market for its industrial production and provider of
natural resources and lands.
• Growing economic interests justified U.S. increasing
involvement on LA domestic affairs.
• U.S. foreign policy towards LA became openly interventionist.
• Main justifications rely on security concerns (LA considered as
the US ‘backyard’, ‘sphere of influence´).
• Historic animosity and anti-imperialism in Latin America.

3. https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/photos/000/315/31517.jpg

4. • After Napoleon was defeated, Spain wanted to reclaim the
colonies in the Americas.
• In 1823, President Monroe gave a speech in Congress and warned
outside powers not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere. He
announced U.S. foreign policy to oppose European colonialism in
the Americas. The Doctrine advises to outside powers to not try to
make new colonies or to overthrow newly independent republics.
• The United States would regard European interference in the
political affairs of the Western Hemisphere as hostile behavior.
• Likewise, the U.S. would not get involved in European affairs or
interfere in existing colonies.
• The United States will protect republican institutions of
government in the Western Hemisphere.
• Europe and the Western Hemisphere have essentially different
political systems.
Monroe Doctrine (1823)

5. • “the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a
principle in which the rights and interests of the United
States are involved, that the American continents, by the
free and independent condition which they have assumed
and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as
subjects for future colonization by any European powers”.
• “We should consider any attempt on their part to extend
their system to any portion of this hemisphere as
dangerous to our peace and security.”
• It would be invoked by various U.S. presidents as Ulysses S.
Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald
Reagan.
Monroe Doctrine

6. Manifest Destiny (1845)
• Phrase coined by journalist John O’Sullivan, New York Morning
News (December 27, 1845)
• The term identifies a belief (a philosophy) that the U.S. was
destined to expand across North America based on the special
virtues of the U.S. people and their institutions; the U.S.
mission to redeem and remake the west; a dive mission that
feels as a destiny to accomplish this essential duty.
• The term conveyed the idea that the U.S. rightful destiny
included imperialistic expansion and its role as world power.
• It justifies the exceptional nature of U.S. interaction with other
nations.
• This idea contributed to the 1846 war on Mexico.

7. “the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to
possess the whole of the continent which Providence has
given us for the development of the great experiment of
liberty and federative development of self government
entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to the space
of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its
principle and destiny of growth”.

8. Different strategies, different countries
•Conquest and territorial appropriation: Mexico (1848),
Puerto Rico (1898)
•Military intervention and occupation: Dominican Republic,
Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa
Rica
•Overthrowing democratic governments and coup d'états:
Guatemala (1954), Chile (1973)
•Backing military regimes and dictatorships: Chile (1973-
1990); El Salvador (1979-1992); Argentina (1976-1983);
Bolivia (1971-1977); Nicaragua (1937 – 1979)
•Training of military forces
•Military bases

9. https://senorab1972.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/la-united-fruit-co-por-pablo-neruda/

10. Emergence of the US as a global power
Spanish-American war of 1898

11. Big Stick Diplomacy (1901)
• It refers to President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy
principle to: “speak softly and carry a big stick”.
• On September 2, 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt
outlined his ideal foreign policy in a speech in Minnesota:
“Speak softly, and carry a big stick.” Two weeks later,
Roosevelt became president and “Big Stick diplomacy”
defined his foreign policy and diplomacy.
• The idea is negotiating but threatening with the use of
military force.
• It is comparable to gunboat diplomacy, as used in
international politics by imperial powers.

12. Dollar Diplomacy (1909)
• It refers to President Howard Taft foreign policy principle which focused
on sending US financial aid and investment to LA countries.
• By the Dollar Diplomacy, the United States uses its military to promote
U.S. business interests abroad. It could be considered as an extension of
the Monroe Doctrine.
• President Taft urged U.S. banks and businesses to invest in Latin America.
His Dollar Diplomacy improved financial opportunities for American
businesses.
• He promised that the US military would step in if political unrest
threatened their investments.
• In 1912, President Taft ordered Marines into Nicaragua when civil war
threatened to prevent repayment of US bank loan. President Taft’s use of
American bankers to refinance the foreign debt of Nicaragua exemplifies
Dollar Diplomacy. The U.S. compelled Nicaragua to accept a loan, and
sent officials to ensure it was repaid from government revenues. In 1912,
President Taft sent troops to begin the United States occupation of
Nicaragua, which lasted until 1933.

13. The Panama Canal
• President Roosevelt was determined to achieve the construction
of a canal across Central America for military and trade reasons.
• Negotiations with the government of Colombia (sometimes
threatening to take the project away and build through
Nicaragua) lead to an agreement that would grant the United
States a lease on the land across Panama in exchange for a
payment of $10 million and an additional $250,000 annual rental
fee. The Colombian Senate rejected the treaty due to popular
opposition.
• Panama in 1903 was province of Colombia. President Roosevelt
supported an uprising in Panama by sending the U.S. navy and
Panama declared its independence from Colombia.
• Panama and the United States sign a treaty $10 million an the
annual rent of $250,000 to the land to build the canal.
• The canal opened in 1914.

14. https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/isoandempire/chapter/the-monroe-doctrine-and-isolationism/
U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America 1890 - 1930

15. Roosevelt Corollary (1904)
• President Theodore Roosevelt was worried that Latin American
nations would default on debts owed to European banks.
• Roosevelt issued the Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine to forestall
intervention from European creditors.
• It established that the United States will oppose and use force if
necessary in the Western Hemisphere and intervene to prevent
intervention by other powers.
• The Corollary justifies U.S. interventions in Latin America when
U.S. interests are threatened and/or to organize economic affairs if
countries were unable to pay their foreign debts.
• At the same time, the U.S. intervention in conflicts between the
European and Latin American countries will be to enforce claims of
the European powers, rather than having the Europeans press
their claims directly.

16. • “Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a
general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in
America as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by
some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the
adherence of the United states to the Monroe Doctrine
may force the United States… to the exercise of an
international police power.”
• Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson enforced the
Roosevelt Corollary by sending American troops to Cuba,
Panama, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic Mexico, and
Haiti.

17. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ushistory2os2xmaster/chapter/roosevelts-big-stick-foreign-policy/

18. Moral/Missionary Diplomacy (1913)
• President Woodrow Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy constitutes a
“moral” approach to foreign affairs.
• It establishes that the U. S. should be the “conscience” of the
world with the mandate to spread democracy and capitalism to
other nations in the hemisphere and protect them from foreign
threats.
• President Wilson's religious beliefs influenced his foreign policy.
Nations, like individuals, should adhere to high ethical and
moral standards. Democracy (the kind of democracy
understood by the U.S.) was the most Christian of
governmental systems, suitable for all peoples. The United
States thus had a moral mandate for world leadership.

19. Good Neighbor Policy (1930’s)
• The Good Neighbour policy was the foreign policy towards Latin America
of President Franklin Roosevelt.
• The United States sought greater cooperation with Latin America.
• Its main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in
the domestic affairs of Latin American countries.
• It reinforced the idea that the United States would be a “good neighbor”
and engage in reciprocal exchanges with Latin America
• As result, the United States withdrew troops from Haiti (1934) and
Nicaragua (1933), and abolished the Platt Amendment for Cuba (1934).
• Ties strengthened during World War II as US relied on Latin America for
supplies and markets.
• The policy empowered a right-wing and socially conservative Latin
American business community.
• The Good Neighbour Policy ended with the beginning of the Cold War in
1945, as the United States felt the need to protect the Western
Hemisphere from Soviet influence.

20. Post WWII and Cold War

21. Back to open military interventionism
• The United States directly or indirectly attacked all suspected socialist or
communist movements in the region.
• U.S. interventions in this era included:
CIA overthrow of Guatemala’s President Jacobo Árbenz (1954)
CIA-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba (1961)
Occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965-66)
CIA support against guerrilla in Bolivia and assassination of Che Guevara
(1967)
CIA subversion of Chilean President Salvador Allende (1970 – 1973)
Plan Condor in South America (1970 – 1980s)
Operation Charly in Central America (1979 – 1982)
Invasion of Grenada with the support of the OECS (1983)
Invasion of Panama (1989)
CIA subversion of Nicaragua's Sandinista government (1981 – 1990)

22. Jacobo Árbenz: Guatemala vs USA
• Jacobo Árbenz was elected President in 1954. He pushed for a program of
social reforms.
• The critical point was the land reform law which allowed the government to
take over and distribute unused land. Uncultivated portions of large land-
holdings were expropriated in return for compensation and redistributed to
poverty-stricken agricultural laborers. Approximately 500,000 people
benefited from the decree. The majority of them were indigenous people.
• Most land was owned by the United Fruit Company which lobbied the United
States government to have him overthrown.
• The reforms also included an expanded right to vote, the ability of workers to
organize, legitimizing political parties, and allowing public debate.
• President Árbenz’s government was accused of communism.
• Coup d’état resulted in a military government and killing defenseless people.
The Guatemalan catholic church supported the coup.
• In October 2011, the Guatemalan government issued an official apology for
Árbenz’s overthrow.

23. https://fa.iuvmarchive.com/en/post/56-military-interventions-in-latin-america

24. https://elordenmundial.com/mapas/intervencionismo-estadounidense-latinoamerica/

25. https://www.hispantv.com/noticias/ee-uu-/376280/intervencionismo-golpes-estado-america-latina

26. Organization of American States (OAS)
• Created in 1948.
• Origins: First International Conference of American States, held in
Washington (1889 -1890). At the meeting it was approved the
establishment of the International Union of American Republics.
• Members: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States of America,
Uruguay, Venezuela, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Grenada,
Suriname, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines, Bahamas, St. Kitts & Nevis, Canada, Belize and Guyana
• The OAS defines itself as “an order of peace and justice, to promote their
solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their
sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence.” However,
it did not defend Árbenz democratic government and supported the U.S.
invasion and occupation to Dominican Republic.
• Realist driven: US opposes establishment of CEPAL in 1948.

27. Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) (1947)
• U.S. response to the Cold War order (“hemispheric defense” doctrine).
• The treaty was invoked numerous times during the 1950s and 1960s, in
particular supporting the United States' naval blockade unanimously
during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• With the exceptions of Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas, no
countries that became independent in the hemisphere after 1947 have
joined the treaty.
• In 2012, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, under the leadership
of leftist governments, initiated the retirement from the TIAR.
• In 2019 during the presidential crisis, the National Assembly of Venezuela,
asked to rejoin the TIAR.
• On September 2019, the United States invoked the TIAR in the face of
an eventual military intervention in Venezuela.
• In 1982, during the Falklands War, Argentina invoked the Treaty but the
U.S. preferred to back the UK.

28. Alliance for the Progress (1961 - 1973)
•It was President Kennedy’s development plan for the region.
•Purposes: To strengthen democratic government and
promote social and economic reforms, and to counteract the
influence of the Cuban Revolution.
•Through the program the US provided loans and aid, and
built schools and hospital.
•The U.S. willingness to support military dictators to prevent
communist take over Kennedy’s initiative.
•Economic aid to Latin America dropped sharply in the late
1960s, especially when Richard Nixon was elected president
in 1968.
•By the early 1970s it was widely viewed as a failure.

29. http://soerenkern.com/2005/11/29/what-are-us-interests-in-latin-america/
https://tedmatt.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/aleqm5h6mooulizswihju_cvn
ydj8bvnza2.jpg

30. The end of the Cold War

31. http://www.ftaa-alca.org/alca_e.asp
FTAA project was abandoned in 2005

32. https://www.telesurtv.net/opinion/Mas-tropas-estadounidenses-en-America-Latina-senales-de-
una-invasion-anunciada-20171020-0045.html

33. Contemporary Issues
•Economic interests
•Security interests (drugs, illegal trade, violence)
•Preservation of U.S. type of democracy
•Diaspora and Hispanic voters in the US
•Migration
•China
Noam Chomsky about US-Latin America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKwJI9axblQ&t
=6s

34. Moving away from the Cold War
FTAA proposal rejected
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4CNsJ5uwMY
Obama’s policy towards Latin America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwdYf9OTz0A
How U.S. Involvement in Central America Led to a
Border Crisis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueNWlMyUNy4