Source: US History.org
For many years, the Monroe Doctrine was practically a dead issue. The bold proclamation of 1823 that declared the Western Hemisphere forever free from European expansion humored the imperial powers who knew the United States was simply too weak to enforce its claim.
By 1900, the situation had changed. America was spreading its wings, daring the old world order to challenge its newfound might. When Theodore Roosevelt became President, he decided to reassert Monroe’s old declaration.
Following the Spanish American War, Cuba became the foundation for a new Latin American policy. Fearful that the new nation would be prey to the imperial powers of Europe, United States diplomats introduced the Platt Amendment of 1901.
Cuba was forbidden from entering any treaty that might endanger their independence. In addition, to prevent European gunboats from landing on Cuban shores, Cuba was prohibited from incurring a large debt. If any of these conditions were violated, Cuba agreed to permit American troops to land to restore order. Finally, the United States was granted a lease on a naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Independent in name only, Cuba became a legal protectorate of the United States.
As Marvin stated earlier, while the Monroe Doctrine blocked further expansion of Europe in the Western Hemisphere, the Roosevelt Corollary went one step further. Should any Latin American nation engage in “chronic wrongdoing,” a phrase that included large debts or civil unrest, the United States military would intervene. Europe was to remain across the Atlantic, while America would police the Western Hemisphere.
The first opportunity to enforce this new policy came in 1905, when the Dominican Republic was in jeopardy of invasion by European debt collectors. The United States invaded the island nation, seized its customs houses, and ruled the Dominican Republic as a protectorate until the situation was stabilized.
The effects of the new policy were enormous. Teddy Roosevelt had a motto: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” To Roosevelt, the big stick was the new American navy.
By remaining firm on our stance and possessing the naval might to back its interests, the United States could simultaneously defend its territory and avoid war.
Latin Americans did not like the corollary. They resented U.S. involvement as Yankee imperialism, and animosity against their large neighbor to the North grew dramatically.
By the end of the 20th century, the United States would send troops of invasion to Latin America over 35 times, establishing an undisputed sphere of influence throughout the hemisphere.
When the Columbian Senate unanimously rejected a proposed treaty giving the United States the right to build a canal through Panama (which was a province of Columbia at the time), Roosevelt referred to them as “the blackmailers of Bogotá“, and he said that trying to get the Columbian Senate to agree to anything was “like trying to nail jelly to the wall“.
In the end, Panamanians revolted, with US backing, declared their independence from Columbia, and concluded a treaty with the United States allowing the U.S. to build a canal.
In 1905, after a show of force by the U.S., the Dominican Republic caved in and allowed the United States to take over their collection of customs duty to retire debts owed to European nations.
While Latin American countries initially viewed protection from European creditors as positive, they quickly came to complain of “Yankee imperialism“.
In 1907 Roosevelt waved the big stick again when he sent the “Great White Fleet” (largely made up of new naval construction) on a world tour clearly designed to impress Latin American and Asian powers of the military might of the United States.
Ultimately the “big stick” gave way to “dollar diplomacy“, but probably in name only. Through dollar diplomacy, the U.S. government encouraged U.S. businesses to invest in Latin American countries, an encouragement that carried with it the assumption that those business interests would be protected by the U.S. government, even by military force if necessary.
It also carried with it the assumption that major U.S. business investment in the relatively limited economies of Latin American nations would give those businesses significant clout in the governmental policies of those countries.
This clout would translate into the ability of the United States to influence the domestic and foreign policies of those countries toward a pro-U.S. attitude. If that clout failed, the U.S. might view the situation as “unstable” and intervene under the authority of the Roosevelt Corollary.
As the United States emerged from World I and moved toward a less aggressive foreign policy, dollar diplomacy and the Roosevelt Corollary remained in force.
Finally, in 1933 at the Montevideo Conference in Uruguay, the United States formally renounced the Roosevelt Corollary as Franklin Roosevelt attempted to usher in a “Good Neighbor” policy toward Latin America.
Specifically, the accord that emerged from the conference, signed by the U.S. in 1934, stated that “No state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another“. While the “good neighbor” policy might have looked good on paper, it didn’t stop U.S. intervention in Latin America.
Following World War II, the Cold War threw a new element, communism, into the mix. Continued economic domination by U.S. economic interests caused a build-up of resentment toward the U.S. government in many Latin American countries.
Coupled with this was the fact that the United States supported many repressive and corrupt Latin American regimes (as long as they were anti-communist) who cared little for the welfare of their people.
As a result, leftist candidates running on platforms of land reform and a more equitable distribution of income had great appeal to much of the population in those countries and a number of leftist candidates were democratically elected. Many of these candidates sought to take over, or nationalize the land and assets of U.S. companies.
At the urging of major U.S. business interests and extremely fearful of the spread of communism to the Western Hemisphere, the United States used overt military action and, more importantly, covert actions of the CIA to overthrow unfriendly but democratically elected leftist governments.
The classic example is the U.S. sponsored coup d’état in 1954 in Guatemala that overthrew a leftist government bent on nationalizing U.S. assets.
Military might was the only thing that gave the United States this authority. Following World War II, the United States enlarged that position and, as a super power assumed the position as policeman of the world.
So there you have it folks. What do you think?
Do you side with Teddy Roosevelt, who said the US should serve as police of the Western Hemisphere (Speak softly and carry a big stick)?
Or do you think his 5th cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had it right with his “Good Neighbor” policy?