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Negotiating under the Monroe Doctrine: Weetman Pearson and the Origins of U.S. Control of Colombian Oil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Marcelo Bucheli
Marcelo Bucheli
Affiliation:
MARCELO BUCHELI is assistant professor in the Department of Business Administration and the Department of History at the University of Illinois (Urbana–Champaign).
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Abstract

Before World War I, most foreign investment in Latin America came from Britain. By World War II, however, the United States had become the main and unchallenged foreign investor in the region. This analysis of the negotiations that took place between the British firm (Pearson and Son) and the Colombian government over oil contracts reveals the reasons for the shift in influence. The company's lack of awareness that Britain had been overtaken by the United States as the hegemonic power in the hemisphere eventually caused the negotiations to collapse. While talks were proceeding, the company failed to consider how much influence the United States had on Colombian internal politics, and it overlooked the history of U.S.–Colombia relations. As a result, Pearson never received oil concessions in Colombia; instead, they were granted to American companies, consolidating U.S. power in the region.

Type
Articles
Information
Business History Review , Volume 82 , Special Issue 3: Business in Latin America , Autumn 2008 , pp. 529 - 553
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2008

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References

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