U.S. FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD LATIN AMERICA (1889-1989)
This research paper critically analyzes American foreign policy toward Latin America during the past century. The primary objectives of that foreign policy have been to protect American national security and to further American economic interests. Secondary importance has attached to the furtherance of democracy and human rights within the Western Hemisphere. Different approaches have been taken by American foreign policy makers to achieve these goals, reflecting changing conditions and the predilections of particular administrations as well as political realities here and in Latin America. Overall, American foreign policy has been successful, but the United States has often been slow to recognize emerging trends in Latin America which needed to be taken into account and by internal contradictions in its policy formulation process.
Prior to the late 19th century, the United States was preoccupied with its own territorial expansion and domestic problems. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 warned Europeans not to intervene in Latin America but was not backed by force. The United States became embroiled with, and seized a large portion of Mexico, as a result of the Mexican War. The rapid industrialization of the United States after the Civil War led to renewed interest in Latin America as a market for American products and as a source of foodstuffs and other primary products. American foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America, mostly in Mexico, Cuba, Chile and Peru, increased from $300 million in 1897 to $1.3 billion in 1914 (Gilderhus, 2000, p. 39). As the United States became a world naval power, it projected force to protect its interests in Latin America, especially the Caribbean and Central America. It used the threat of force to persuade European nations to accept international arbitration of their disputes with Venezuela in 1895 and 1903. It acquired direct control of Puert...