Santi Sanchez
Professor Marks
Latin American Studies
October 11, 2017
Latin America Mid Term Question 1 Latin America is one of the most interesting areas to study, because each region has its own unique past. Every country in Latin America seems as though, even though are close in proximity, they are completely different in a lot of major ways. This, however, is not the common stereotype of Latin America. When looking at Latin America people often to group them all together and say that they are very similar in almost always. This is simply not the case. There is an incredible about of rich diversity and history all throughout Latin America. There are factors that have led to this wide range of diversity in Latin America. These factors
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The United Fruit Company, and its roots had incredible amounts of influence throughout Central America and Colombia. Samuel Zemurray started the banana monopoly in Honduras and it soon became a massive company that had millions invested in the Latin American countries that farmed their bananas. This lead to the United Fruit company to use its massive amount of money and influence to structure the government in its favor. It paid off president and politicians who favored their intentions. This unfortunately lead to the leaders of many Latin American countries taking the extra money to neglect their people. An example of the Untied Fruit Company’s influence can easily be illustrated in Guatemala. Their entire economy was basically based around the United Fruit Company and bananas. This lead to decades of presidents who facilitated things for the United Fruit company in exchange for benefits. This trend was finally broken when Jacobo Arbenz was elected in1951, but sadly political corruption is a trend that plagues a lot of Latin America to this …show more content…
The North America Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, is a great example of a policy that favored the United States greatly. This agreement facilitated trade between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This policy was implemented under the Clinton administration, and removed many of the trade tariffs between the United States and mainly Mexico. This has made it incredibly easy for the United States to trade with Mexico and for companies to move their manufacturing to Mexico for cheaper labor. Another example of a policy that influenced more of Latin America is the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine was established in 1823 and basically stated that European nations could not interfere with any country in the Western Hemisphere. This at the time gave the United States a monopoly over Latin America, because they were the only major power in the Western Hemisphere at the time. The Monroe Doctrine is a clear example of the United States benefiting greatly at the expense of Latin American
The Monroe Doctrine played a vital role in forming United States foreign policy. It was implemented at a time in the United States when Manifest Destiny was aggressively in effect. The US was freshly out from the control Europe had over them. The forming of Latin America in 1822 sparked interest in the US. The Latin America was experiencing similar problems in trying to gain independence from European control. The Holy Alliance, a coalition formed by Russia, Austria and Prussia, were attempting to interfere with this progress. The British took a stance against the Alliance to preserve trade and commercial interest. With Britain on his side, President Monroe took this opportunity to present the Monr...
The Monroe Doctrine reflected the concerns and ambitions of a fledgling nation that was brave enough to declare its sovereignty on the world stage. The Doctrine, in stating that European powers ought not to intervene in America’s affairs, established the US as a world power, although one that had inadequate, hemispheric aspirations. However, these aspirations would extend, and in future years the Doctrine would substantiate its usefulness for interventionists, as well as protectionists. Being conceivably the most distinguishable and the most revered as regards principles of diplomacy, the doctrine’s influence on the popular imagination was so great that it described the limits of standard decisions on policy, in turn influencing the choice of preferences that US Presidents had for most of the last two centuries.
“Latin America includes the entire continent of South America, as well as Mexico. Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. Physical geography has played an important role in the economic development of Latin America.” (Doc A and Doc G) Latin America has many unique cultural characteristics, industrial products, agricultural products, and human activity.
During the second half of the twentieth century, when the Cold War was on its midst, the United States played an important role in world affairs. The increasing military power that the United States had during the Cold War, allowed it to influence the political decisions that many countries had during this time. The United States directly opposed the idea of communism, which the Soviet Union promoted. This conflict between this two great powers, lasted for five decades, and it tremendously affected the political ideologies of the world. Both countries tried to push their political and economic interest to as many nations as they could, especially those close to their borders. During this time, Guatemala was undergoing a social revolution with communist ideas. The revolution happened as a response to the social injustice committed by the United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company started to lose land, due to a land reform passed b...
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
New York, N.Y., 1991. Bethell, Leslie. A. The Cambridge History of Latin America Vol. III. Cambridge University Press, London, England.
Primarily, the United States foreign policy behind the Monroe Doctrine was introduced by President James Monroe in the midst of many Latin American countries gaining their independence from Spain. The doctrine stated that attempts by European countries to colonize or interfere with states in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as acts of aggression and U.S. intervention would be necessary. The Monroe Doctrine set the precedent for various foreign policies that would result in U.S. involvement in Latin America.
Latin America’s independence kicked of with the independence of Haiti. Before the the independence movement that overtook Latin America, Haiti had gained independence twenty years before the movement. The Spanish Empire had been in decline for a period of time after the rise of the English empire and many failed battles on the Spanish (class notes). The French Revolution and the American Revolution had inspired many of the Latin American countries to fight for independence (Chapter 3). They were inspired by the Enlightenment that washed over Europe. Of the inspired, one man stood out and took the movement by heart.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
The historian Ronn Pineo wrote “Beginning in the 1980s nearly all of Latin America began to take part in a great experiment, the adoption of capitalist free market economic policies.” This great experiment began with the promotion of democracy and free market that promised a better future for Latin America. Neoliberalism, the economic ideology that promotes free-market capitalism, laid the foundation for many of the US military interventions and economic policies that caused a dramatic transformation of Latin America. This promise of a “democratic” government came from a policy initiative labeled as polyarchy. Polyarchy is “ a system in which a small group governs and mass participation in decision making is limited to choosing leaders in elections that are carefully managed by competing elites” (Lecture: Polyarchy and Resistance).
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Americans over the years have been known to become almost selfish, no matter how much we have, we will never be happy until we control the free world. " The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 defined United States foreign policy in the Americas for the rest of the 19th century and beyond. It declared that the United States had an interest in the Western Hemisphere and the European powers must not meddle in the affairs of any developing nations there. The United States was a young nation in 1823 and did not really have the power to back up the Monroe Doctrine. However, the policy was used to justify the sending of the U.S. troops into Mexico in 1866 (to intimidate the French) and the purchased of Alaska in 1867".
History is usually outlined by critical moments which have had enduring effects in the world. Several turning points have defined the history of Latin America. Two major climaxes in Latin American History were the 19th-century Wars of Independence and the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Both of these events have significantly changed the course of Latin American history.
On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe articulated his seventh annual message to Congress. This message presented Americans with a statement that changed the way the Western Hemisphere would be view and how international affairs toward the new Latin colonies would be handle from this point forward. It addressed European nations in particular and stated that “the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet nations” The Monroe Doctrine was initially designed to protect the Latin colonies but later President Theodore Roosevelt extended the Doctrine to include the United States would be the policing powers of the Western Hemisphere, this became known as the Roosevelt Corollary. Roosevelt stated that the United States had a “morale mandate” to ensure that other nations used appropriate attitudes toward Latin America. Roosevelt felt strongly in about the conduct of other nations and further stated: “It is not that the United States feels and land hunger or entertains any projects as regards the other nations of the Western Hemisphere save such as are for their welfare. All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the U...
Conclusion So what role did multinational companies such as United Fruit and ITT have on the foreign affairs of nation states in countries within Central and South America? These two multinational companies played a fundamental role in the governments of Central America during the 1900s. United Fruit destroyed the democratic system of Guatemala and threw them into civic unrest for thirty years. United Fruit’s effect is more abstract for Cuba as United Fruit raised Castro and sparked some of Che Guevara's hatred towards big companies.