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