Latin American Foreign Policy

Models for post-revolutionary Latin American government are born of the complex economic and social realities of 17th and 18th century Europe. From the momentum of the Enlightenment came major political rebellions of the elite class against entrenched national monarchies and systems of power. Within this time period of elitist revolt and intensive political restructuring, the fundamental basis for both liberal and conservative ideology was driven deep into Latin American soil. However, as neither ideology sought to fulfill or even recognize the needs or rights of mestizo people under government rule, the initial liberal doctrine pervading Latin American nations perpetuated

US interventionism in Latin America started a long time ago with the Monroe Doctrine, in 1823. A policy which stated that any intervention by external power for example from Europe is the Americas is a hostile act against the US. In simpler words, America is for the Americas. From the 1900’s till the beginning of the Cold War, the United States started the military intervention mostly in the Caribbean and Central American regions. This has started a long history of the United States intervening on Latin America issues.

Plan Colombia is a long-prevailing foreign aid package bestowed to the country of Colombia from the United States. This foreign aid package grants substantial financial assistance to Colombia, intending to fight the “War on Drugs” and to reduce the trafficking of narcoleptics, but there is a multitude of other factors and implications, both unintentional or indirect and intentional due to ulterior motives. To accomplish the goals of Plan Colombia, most of the aid has been provided in the form of armed forces. This situation is complicated because of the ongoing civil war between the government of Colombia and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC). Additionally making matters difficult has

When Fidel Castro took over Cuba by means of a revolution, he quickly established his government as the first openly Communist government in the western hemisphere. He petitioned the Soviet Union for aid, which was cheerfully given him. These events went against our current policies, as well as the Monroe Doctrine, which established us as the police force of the western hemisphere. Ninety miles away from the greatest bastion of Capitalism was now residing its greatest foe. This tense situation was brought to a boiling point by the arrival of

How successful were Bill Clinton’s involvements in Cuba and Haiti? The start of Bill Clinton’s presidency is particularly interesting in where it coincides with the timing of the fall of the soviet union; leaving the United States as the sole super power. The whole premise of Bill Clinton’s campaign against George H.W Bush was that he was going to focus on the domestic issues at home rather than foreign affairs. However, The foreign affairs that took place truly shapes modern American foreign policy. I would first assess Clinton’s administration’s actions in both Cuba and Haiti and answer the question on the motivations behind both countries. As I continue my research, I will talk about the similarities between both countries in the administration’s motivations and the message that the administration was trying to deliver to the public. As well as paying particular focus on immigration. Additionally, I will also proceed to talk about the correlation with what unfolded in each country, hoping to answer my research question.

“When officials come together to take some action, the result will most often be different from what any of them intended before they began interacting a group” (Allison and Philip, 1999, p. 258). On March 2007, George W. Bush made a visit to the Mexican state of Yucatán to meet the recently elected Mexican president Felipe Calderón. Moreover, in this state visit, Calderón made a point about the US’ lack of cooperation in the fight against drugs and “asked the United States to help fight the criminal mafias based in his country of his neighbor’s drug habit” (The Economist, 2008). The Merida Initiative (MI), made public on 2007, proposed aid for Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The aid, of an economic nature, had the objective of bringing security to developing countries and for the US, the protection of their national

While the Cold War does not mark a significant distinction from US involvement in Latin America pre-Cold War, the inclusion of ideology in US foreign policy decisions did mark a change in attitudes and focus. While US policy can be described as rational to a certain point, the Cuban dilemma caused an irrational fear in US foreign policy makers to avoid a second-Cuba. The fear of a “second Cuba” can be seen in the various interventions by the US in Latin America during this period.

As Charles Bergquist observes, "Crises in Colombia tend to generate cycles of violence instead of mutations in the political regime." The reason is simple: regime changes in Colombia tend to produce very little change in anything other than nominal rule. Since Colombia's independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has seen a series of civil wars and secessions (Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama the last coming rather conveniently at a time when the U.S. was prepared to pay millions for a canal through its nation preparation that later resulted in a multi-million dollar redress to Columbia). Colombia's political history, therefore, has been colored by outside influences pulling on the two dominant liberal and conservative parties, with violent exchanges, and long periods of instability being the consequences. While regime changes have occurred, they have not produced significant improvements. Rather, Colombia in the 20th century has become a nesting ground for paramilitary forces and drug traffickers, with U.S. Central Intelligence operatives contributing heavily to the violent conflict that has risen between regimes. This paper will examine the regime types that preceded the Rojas Pinilla regime in mid-20th century Colombia, analyze their similarities and differences, and discuss the extent to which Rojas Pinilla reached his goals and objectives.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States was the most dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. European nations conceded to the United States their right of any intervention in the Western Hemisphere and allowed the United States to do whatever they wanted. The United States took this newly bestowed power and abused it. The United States intervened in many Latin American countries and imposed their policies on to these countries against their will. A perfect example of this aggression is what occurred in the Dominican Republic in 1904. The United States intervened in this sovereign nation and took control of their economy and custom houses. A memorandum from Francis B. Loomis, the United States Assistant

When looking at the history between the United States and Latin America, you see many interactions between them, all that aided the relationship that they have today. Despite that the United States and Latin America are in the same part of the world, the beliefs in which they govern may differ. This difference has often been seen playing a major role in the disputes that have occurred in past. The United States and Latin America have faced many social, economical and governing barriers in forming a strong and positive relationship in the early twentieth century, this is due to the differences that the two had between cultures and the constant demand for power. However, the two countries have found ways to meet in the middle of their cultural differences, to form an equally fair relationship.

Pinochet was put into power . This is a perfect example of how the US foreign policy replaced genuine democracy with dictatorship for their own benefit, and again, supposedly in the name of National Security. Latin America was a victim of US foreign policy and corporate greed.

The Latin American nations shared the hatred of colonialism and fear of nuclear warfare with their fellow Africans and Asians. The FO acknowledged that “the legacy of anti-colonialism, which they have inherited from their own past, influences Latin American thinking on [neutralism] as on so many other issues.” The Latin Americans differed in that they were decolonized a century earlier, and had “been spared close contact with major conflicts,” therefore having “little fear of war in the sense that you would find fear in South East Asia, India or the Middle East.” The motivation to join the NAM, therefore, might have been more politically motivated than morally.

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

The Tupamaros struggle against the international intervention is best demonstrated by the 1972 movie State of Siege, in which the Uruguayan leftist urban guerrilla group, the Tupamaros, kidnaps Dan Mitrion, a CIA advisor who had trained Uruguayan security forces in counterinsurgency tactics, and eventually kills him. The movie is based on a true story and focuses on the United States’ efforts to train foreign police officers in violent counterinsurgency procedures, and to help fund death squads. In Martha Huggin’s article, “U.S.-Supported State Terror,” she details the efforts by the United States to improve American control over various countries through the police, although certainly not alone in this regard for France trained police in Uruguay, Peru and São Paulo in the 20th century, followed closely by German aid to Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia (Huggins 1987). At the International Police Academy, special CIA advisers trained international police forces on crowd suppression,

However, in the 1970s the word underwent a radical change of meaning suddenly assuming negative overtones. Boas and Gans-Morse argue convincingly that in Latin America the watershed between these two radically different meanings was the 1973 Pinochet coup in Chile and post-coup government’s adoption of a new policy strategy along the lines advocated by the so-called “Chicago Boys”. Many critics of this U-turn in economic policy started to call “neoliberal” the new policy strategy with a new negative meaning. This sudden mutation of meaning rapidly spread around the globe to designate the change of policy strategy adopted by most governments since the late