The United States and Its Latin American Neighbors: A Primer

The Monroe Doctrine “... the American continents... Henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers” 2. that the political system of Europe was different from the U.S., and we would “consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety” 3. the U.S. will not interfere with existing European colonies in the western hemisphere 4. the U.S. will keep out of the internal affairs of European nations and their wars

The Spanish-American War The United States takes the side of the guerilla revolutionaries in Cuba, eventually invading the island nation and defeating the Spanish. While the United States did not claim Cuba, they did, however, maintain a special relationship with it because of the Platt Amendment to the Treaty of Paris. The Amendment stated that the U.S. had the right to intervene if Cuba’s independence was threatened, and they got a permanent military base at Guantanamo Bay.

“Dollar Diplomacy” s Taft and Roosevelt’s approach to Latin America Encourage American bankers to invest in countries, supported by the United States military Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras

The Panama Canal U.S. supports revolution against Colombia, then signs treaty with new Panama for land and rights to build Canal The Roosevelt Corollary Since the Monroe Doctrine prohibited intervention in Latin America by Europeans, the United States was justified in intervening first to forestall the actions of outsiders. “chronic wrongdoing... 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 U.S., however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or importance, to the exercise of an international police power”

The Good Neighbor Policy s Harding Administration (1921) agreed to pay Colombia $25 million for America’s use of Panama Canal rights American troops left the Dominican Republic U.S. marines left Nicaragua, return next year due to civil war, stay until U.S. - Mexican relations improve over compensation due American because of Mexican civil war Pan-American Conference in Havana FDR supported a resolution declaring no nation “has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another”

Cuba ? January 1, ‘59, Fidel Castro’s guerillas defeat dictator Fulgenicio Batista’s government forces. At first, the U.S. is sympathetic to Castro’s revolution, but they quickly realize his socialist/communist tendencies, and they change approaches. The Bay of Pigs - April New President Kennedy accepts Ike’s plans, supports invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, armed with U.S. weapons. JFK has a change of heart, turns into fiasco Cuban Missile Crisis - October 1962

The Alliance for Progress Kennedy’s attempt to make peace in Latin America