US Policy Toward Latin America - In Their Own Best Interest: A History of the U.S. Effort to Improve Latin Americans. By Lars Schoultz. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018. Pp. 392. $35.00 paper.

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-392
Author(s):  
Renata Keller
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

Virginia R. Domínguez on Spellacy and Ibarra

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Government Action ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Positive Image ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Many ◽  
The U.S

This essay argues that both “pro-Americanism” and “anti-Americanism” appear as plausible referents in these essays by Spellacy and Ibarra, but it stresses that both essays actually raise questions about what is assumed (and perhaps should not be assumed) about U.S. interest in Latin Americans and the consequences of that interest for those who live in one or another country in the Western Hemisphere. Dominguez notes that both Spellacy and Ibarra are likely to surprise readers, though in different ways. That the U.S. was ever really interested in Latin America, and specifically in promoting a positive image of the U.S. in Latin America, may well surprise many current readers of Spellacy’s essay, but it may not be as surprising as Ibarra’s claim that many Mexican immigrants in L.A. are actually fairly “pro-American.” Given the history of U.S. government action in Latin America and the Caribbean since at least the Monroe Doctrine in the early 1800s, any interest among Latin Americans in moving to the U.S. appears as a contradiction. Dominguez is interested in Spellacy’s phrase “making U.S. imperialism go down easy” but asks when and how U.S. imperialism has been noticed and by whom, and when and how it has mattered—and not mattered—to U.S. residents, residents of other countries in the Western Hemisphere, and even people elsewhere. For example, she asks if it might be possible that Sinaloans (and the many other Mexicans who migrate to the U.S. with and without proper U.S. papers) care little about U.S. imperialism and might actually be tacit (or even vocal) supporters of U.S. imperialism.

Accepting Regional Zero: Nuclear Weapon Free Zones, U.S. Nonproliferation Policy and Global Security, 1957–1968

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Stocker
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Nuclear Weapon ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Nonproliferation ◽  
Nuclear Strategy ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Over Time

Nuclear weapon free zones (NWFZs) were an important development in the history of nuclear nonproliferation efforts. From 1957 through 1968, when the Treaty of Tlatelolco was signed, the United States struggled to develop a policy toward NWFZs in response to efforts around the world to create these zones, including in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Many within the U.S. government initially rejected the idea of NWFZs, viewing them as a threat to U.S. nuclear strategy. However, over time, a preponderance of officials came to see the zones as advantageous, at least in certain areas of the world, particularly Latin America. Still, U.S. policy pertaining to this issue remained conservative and reactive, reflecting the generally higher priority given to security policy than to nuclear nonproliferation.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Rabe
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
South America ◽  
National Security ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
History Of

This introductory chapter provides an overview of U.S. policies toward Latin America during Henry Kissinger's career as national security adviser and secretary of state. Henri Kissinger directed inter-American relations between 1969 and 1977. Like his predecessors, Kissinger judged relations with Western Europe, the Soviet Union, and China as strategically more important than relations with Latin America. But Kissinger launched noteworthy initiatives, such as the attempt to normalize relations with Cuba and to transfer the canal to Panama. The Kissinger years were also historically significant for Latin Americans. The 1970s represented the most violent period in the history of post-independence (1825) South America. This book provides a comprehensive investigation of the foreign policies of the Nixon and Ford administrations toward Latin America and Kissinger's central role in formulating and implementing those policies.

The Development of Accion Democratica de Venezuela

1959 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Kantor
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Past History ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Other ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of

The election of Rómulo Betancourt as constitutional President of Venezuela for the 1959-1964 term marks a turning point in that country's political evolution and a high point in the tide of reform now sweeping Latin American toward stable constitutional government. The new president of Venezuela and the party he leads, Acción Democrática, represent the same type of reformist movement as those now flourishing in many other countries of Latin America. As a result, dictatorship in the spring of 1959 is confined to the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Paraguay. The situation in Haiti is unclear, but in the other sixteen republics the governments are controlled by parties and leaders which are to a greater or lesser degree trying to get away from the past and seem to have the support of their populations in their efforts. This marks a great change from most of the past history of the Latin American Republics in which the population was ruled by dictatorial cliques dedicated to the preservation of a status quo which meant the perpetuation of poverty and backwardness for most of the Latin Americans.

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