Iraq: a Lesson from Panama Imperialism and Struggle for Sovereignty

The United States has influenced many nations in the world throughout history. Some of the ways the U.S. has been able to dominate poor countries are with military action and corporate activities that allowed the United States to influence their governments. Since the United States extends its power with the previously mentioned methods, it is recognized as an imperialist nation. The United States has specifically demonstrated imperialistic forces in Latin America. The effects that the United States’ imperialism had on Latin American economies and politics were negative since it brought violence and caused the poor to struggle even more. When the United Sates government did not like policies that Latin American presidents were creating, they would take military actions to force American ideologies into Latin American countries’ governments by installing puppets into their governments. Generally, these countries would have flourished economically without the United States, but since the U.S. became involved with the countries’ policies, their economies have weakened because the U.S. wants the benefits of controlling countries’ resources without being responsible for the people who reside there. This pattern of the United States’ imperialistic behavior has been demonstrated many times in Latin America.

The documents that provide a deep and valuable insight into this topic includes “Colonial Spanish America” by Historian Leslie Bethell (1987) and “The Americas: A Hemisphere History” by Felipe Fernandez-Arnesto (2003). Document 1 portrays the ethnic makeup of the population in 1789, depicting that the majority of the population consisted of Indians and Creoles/Peninsulares. The author portrays this information in order to illustrate the divisions within society, and how the ethnic diversity correlated with a desire for self-governance. This document verifies that is the local and elite population that sparks the idea for revolution, thereby confirming the desire of natives to revolt. During this time period, the idea of revolution/independence was still in its foundational form, and hadn’t reached prominence. However, the dominance of natives and incorporation of elites allowed these ideals to evolve and motivate the population to strive for independence. Document 3 also provides a vital and critical source of information obtained by a historian. The document informs the reader about the results of the wars and the causes of them. He states that the Revolutions occurred as a result of “resentful elites trying to resist the increasing intrusion and interference of their mother countries.” It portrays how the local

Around this time Roosevelt was also trying to make a deal with Columbia that had offered 10 million for a 10 mile wide Canal Zone in Panama, this treaty was rejected. Soon after panama revolted and the U.S secretly helped them with their revolution and 3 days later Panama Won their independence in 1903. The same treaty offered to Columbia was then offered to Panama and this time it was accepted, this began the construction of the Panama Canal. Only a year after Panama had gained their independence Theodore Roosevelt was running for election in 1904, and had gained a lot of popularity from his previous term. Roosevelt was up against democrat Alton Parker who he had believed was a hard candidate to beat, but the electoral votes would say otherwise. Roosevelt won the election both in popular votes and electoral votes, and he gladly took office again. While back in office Roosevelt stated that the United States had to enforce the Monroe doctrine because the United States had power in the western hemisphere and Europe had to stay out. He also stated how the U.S had the right to intervene with any Latin American country whenever they wanted. After making these statements President Roosevelt sent a Great white fleek (best U.S Battle Ships) on a tour around the world as an announcement of power, this was known as the “Big Stick Diplomacy”. After “Showing the Flag” across the

Roosevelt saw the completion of a canal in Panama as a military and economic necessity for the United States, and he was determined to make it happen. In 1903, Roosevelt attempted to get

President Roosevelt wished to build a channel through which the US Navy and other ships could go through to cut down the time spent in their travels around the Americas. When negotiations fell through with Colombia, the country that currently owned the property he was interested in building on, Roosevelt funded the Panamanian revolution and helped to set up a Naval Blockade to aid them even further. After all was said and done in 1903, a treaty called the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

Throughout the early 1900s the Marine Corps was becoming acquainted with the island of Hispaniola that was split between two nations, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Both nations had a political tradition that dictated office holding as a political right and economic requirement for the political class known as the elite and the caudillos. Consequently, both governments acquired a considerable amount of debt during this time period in order to sustain the habits of this tradition. The United States developed an active interest in Hispaniola following the War with Spain and the construction of the Panama Canal. The Roosevelt and Taft administrations were primarily focused with the traditional tasks of protecting American lives and property. However, the US government shifted its focus to economic and strategic concerns as the State and Navy Departments engaged in gunboat diplomacy, a foreign policy that is supported by the use or threat of military force. Among these concerns was European intervention and establishing bases throughout the Caribbean. The US would have to protect Haiti and the Dominican Republic simultaneously by denying European activity in the American sphere of interest and to preserve foreign investments for both the United States and Hispaniola.

Theodore Roosevelt divided the world into "civilized" and "uncivilized" nations. Roosevelt became extremely active in international diplomacy, more so than his predecessors. For example, he helped to negotiate a settlement of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, for this he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt declared that the Untied States did not have the slightest desire to expand territory, however, he engaged an intervention in Central America. His first major action in the region was the separation of Panama from Columbia in order to construct a canal that would link the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This idea was long before thought about in history. Since Roosevelt was an an advocate for the American naval development, he was convinced that a canal would prove to be prosperous to the movement of naval and commercial ships between the two oceans. The construction of the Panama Canal was not available until the establishment of their independence from Columbia.

American attitudes towards Latin America can be summed up as an extension of larger global directives, and the exclusion of foreign powers in the region. This was highlighted especially during the Cold War as US involvement was essentially in competition with the USSR. Latin America was therefore a mere pawn in the larger context of US-Soviet competition for global dominance. The actions and methods used are also characterized by the lack of an international authority, or an atmosphere of inter-state anarchy, which shaped their calculations in the endeavor to increase their influence over Latin America. When one analyzes the situation, it seems only rational that the United States treated its southern neighbors so, due to the geographical

The economy was expanding and the US became more interested in the well being of surrounding economies. The Dominican Republic was in debt to various European nations at this time. They were having problems paying their debts and chose to stop paying them. In response to this issue, President Theodore Roosevelt formulated an extension to the Monroe Doctrine. The Roosevelt Corollary, as it became to be known, gave the US the power to intervene with European powers coming west in an attempt to collect debts.2 The fear was that Europe, in an attempt to collect debts, would occupy and control the country in debt. With the Panama Canal on the scope, this would hinder economic stimulus in the US. President Roosevelt’s beliefs are best captured in the Corollary when he stated:

OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERATION OF CENTRAL AMERICA BY THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN

to historian Luis Perez, Cuba had always been considered a “strategic site in the Caribbean” (qtd.

Before the treaty of 1903, the territory of Panama had no intent to rebel from Colombia. The terms were extreme. The U.S. demanded complete control over the canal zone and the construction of the Panama Canal. The treaty specifically stated the US would be able to exercise a monopoly in the construction, operation and maintenance of the canal. The US would also be accountable for the justice system in the area. Although Panama fought for its independence, their land was forcefully taken from them when Panama’s newly formed government signed the treaty. The terms on which the treaty was signed were practically

Located on the Pacific Coastline, El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, and the most populated. The United States of America foreign policy on El Salvador is best explained by President Obama’s approach on Latin America where the United States is focused on economic growth and equality, energy and climate control, and regional and citizen security (Foreign Policy, 2012). This is best explained using the international level of analysis and neo-liberalism where the global structure and economic interdependence provides the foundation of America’s foreign policy. To ensure that one can see the transparency in United States methodology I will provide the history of El Salvador, the creation of United States interest in El

Galeano portrays this moment in Latin American history as the instant U.S investors took control over the industries. He details the dangers they went through when producing one item to export for the benefit of foreigners, and how they later imported the processed goods from those same foreign countries, injecting money only overseas. The fact that Latin America needed imports to survive initiated the imperial link the U.S has upon it. As stated by Galeano, “The growing dependence on foreign supplies produces the growing identification of the interest of U.S. capitalists operating in Latin America with U.S. national security”11, bluntly showing the relationship between the United States and Latin America. “With petroleum, as with coffee or meat, rich countries profit more from the work of consuming it than do poor countries from the work of producing it”12. Because profit was not being retained in the Latin American countries, nationalization of the industries became of importance. The United States offered intervention in order to protect everyone’s interests with the proposal of free trade, but this was no more than another manipulation to continue having power over Latin America and its resources: “Latin America’s big ports, through which the wealth of its soil and subsoil passed en route to distant centers of power, were being built as instruments of the conquest and domination of the countries to which they belonged, and as conduits

“Open Veins of Latin America” by Eduardo Galeano primarily focuses on historical events following the “discovery” and colonization of Latin America. This book however, unlike many others has very distinct and contrasting ideas. In his historical piece, Galeano incorporates many peculiar ideas that have since caused controversy following the publishing of the book in the year 1973. As we examine the cover, the subtitle (“Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent”) gives us an antecedent of our authors viewpoint on the subject and what’s to come later in the book. Without a doubt, one of the major themes and the books main purpose is to clarify the events that took place in Latin America involving the pillage of land and natural resources by foreigners. In his “Seven Years Later” segment of the book, Galeano claims that he wanted to uncover lies and things that have been hidden in the history books. Galeano also wants to uncover the social, economic, and political disparity that Latin American indigenous people were/are facing compared to and as a direct result of foreigners who were/are benefitting and prospering from Latin American land and people.