CONFRONTING THE UNITED STATES
U.S. IMPERIAL POWER
• Conquest and incorporation
• Formal colonization
• Informal “spheres of influence”
STRATEGIES FOR POWER• Mexico
– Conquest and incorporation– Military intervention– Political and economic pressure
• Central America and Caribbean– Colonization (Puerto Rico, Panama?)– Dollar diplomacy and “sphere of influence”– Military intervention (Dominican Republic, Panama, Haiti)
• Cuba– Military intervention, occupation (1898-1902)– Quasi-colony (Platt Amendment, 1902-33)– Sphere of influence (1934-59)– Attempts at overthrow (1959- )
U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTIONS, 1898-1933
• Costa Rica 1921
• Cuba 1898-1902, 1906-1909, 1912, 1917-1922
• Dominican Rep 1903, 1904, 1914, 1916-1924
• Haiti 1915-1934
• Honduras 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924, 1925
• Mexico 1913, 1914, 1916-1917, 1918-1919
• Nicaragua 1898, 1899, 1909-1910, 1912-1925, 1926-1933
• Panama 1903-1914, 1921, 1925
Defining the Challenge
• Establishing sovereignty• Articulating national interests• In the wake of colonial rule (and war)• Negotiating international arena• Confronting the United States
STRATEGIC OPTIONS 1. Collective unity (“the Bolivarian dream”)
2. Extra-hemispheric protection
3. Regional hegemony
4. International law
5. Cultures of resistance
6. Alignment with the United States
OPTIONS IN ACTION: MEXICO
– Collective unity (as leader of Latin America)– Regional hegemony (in Central America)– International law (re sovereignty)– Cultures of resistance– Alignment with United States (NAFTA)
CENTRAL AMERICA + CARIBBEAN
• Central America– Collective unity (unification)– Cultures of resistance– Alignment with USA
• Caribbean– Extra-hemispheric protection (Europe) – Cultures of resistance– Alignment with USA
CUBA
• Cultures of resistance + revolution• Extra-hemispheric protection• Collective unity (?)
Outcomes and Implications•Short-term success and experimentation
•Growth of nationalist anti-imperialism
•Continuing quest for sovereignty
•Tensions in U.S.-Latin American relations
