Chapter 20

The Two Americas: United States-Latin American Relations

The following material is designed to help you sort out the major themes and important information in our textbook Benjamin Keen, A History of Latin America, 5^th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996). You will be quizzed over this material in class. Also use this information as a study guide to prepare for the exam.

Learning Objectives

After you have read and studied Chapter 20, you should be able to:

1. Explain the permanent long-term U.S. objectives in Latin America.
2. Trace the steps by which the United States became an imperial power.
3. Describe the origins of the Good Neighbor Policy and how it was applied.
4. Discuss the influence of the cold war, the Cuban Revolution, and other major international developments on the Latin American policy of the United States from 1945 to 1991.

Chapter Summary

The chapter opens with a description of the permanent long-term objectives of U.S.-Latin American policy. Discussion then turns to U.S. policy toward the Latin American independence movements, the significance of the Monroe Doctrine, U.S. westward expansion at the expense of Spain and then of Mexico, and growing U.S. interest in an isthmian canal and Caribbean markets. The chapter points to the increasingly aggressive U.S.-Latin American policy in the last years of the nineteenth century, ultimately establishing the United States as an imperial power. The gradual shift to a less aggressive policy in the Roosevelt years is shown to have been largely a response to the threat to American economic interests posed by growing anti-American feeling in Latin America. Moreover, the goal of American dominance over Latin America remained unchanged, as illustrated by repeated attempts to frustrate Latin American efforts to achieve economic independence after World War II. The chapter goes on to note the tactics of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations to combat the influence of the Cuban Revolution and the Nixon administration's use of subversion and economic sanctions to undermine the Chilean socialist experiment. The efforts of the Carter administration to negotiate settlements with Panama and Cuba are then described, followed by an account of the interventionist Latin American policy of the Reagan and Bush administrations. An analysis of Clinton's stand on economic policy toward Latin America, Cuba Haiti, and other issues suggests that his Latin American policy is essentially "more of the same."

Identification Terms

Be sure that you are able to identify and explain the historical significance of each of each of these terms from this chapter.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. This material is presented as a study guide exclusively for the use of students in Latin American History at Illinois State University. Please direct any questions to Marc Becker at mbecker@ilstu.edu.