Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m42fx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T14:21:51.518Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The United States and Latin America’s Armed Forces: A Troubled Relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Richard L. Millett
Richard L. Millett*
Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

When Commodore David Porter resigned from the US Navy to accept the post of commander-in-chief of Mexico’s nascent naval forces, he began a tradition of US involvement with Latin American armed forces that has endured to the present day. Porter’s decision was supported by President John Quincy Adams, who hoped that it would both strengthen the US influence in Mexico and act as a curb on possible Mexican efforts to seize Cuba, a prize which the president coveted himself (for details, see Long, 1970). These objectives signaled another enduring heritage: efforts by the United States to use ties with Latin American military institutions to promote agendas that were frequently unrelated to, or even at variance with, national interests in Latin America. This would be especially true whenever the United States perceived itself as competing with other nations for influence in the region. In 1826, the rival was Great Britain; in this century, it was first Germany and then the Soviet Union, but, in all cases, the bottom line was the same: a determination to make Washington’s influence paramount.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 39 , Issue 1: Special Issue: US-Latin American Relations , Spring 1997 , pp. 121 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Child, J. (1996) “Peacekeeping, Confidence Building”, pp. 11–36 in Richard, L. Millett and Michael, Gold-Biss (eds.) Beyond Praetorianism: The Latin American Military in Transition. Coral Gables, FL : North-South Center Press.Google Scholar
Einaudi, L. (1996) “Security and Democracy in the Region. Joint Force Quarterly 11 (Spring): 67–72.Google Scholar
Instituto de Altos Estudios de la Defensa Nacional (IAEDEN) (1995) “Nuevos Temas de la Agenda de Seguridad Regional en el Caribe: Drogas, Ambiente, Migracionesy Estabilidad Democrática. Presentation prepared by Iaeden (Caracas, Venezuela) for a conference at Harvard University; Cambridge (Ma); 20 October.Google Scholar
Long, D. (1970) Nothing Too Daring: A Biography of Commodore David Porter. Annapolis, MD : US Naval Institute Press.Google Scholar
Manwaring, M. (ed.) (1993) Grey Area Phenomena: Confronting the New World Disorder. Boulder, CO : Westview Press.Google Scholar
Martz, R. (1994) “Training for Latins Adds a Lesson in Human Rights. Atlanta Journal/Altanta Constitution (9 October): A13.Google Scholar
Organization of American States (OAS) (1995) Regional Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (OEA/Ser. K/XXIX.2 COSEGRE/doc. 18/95 rev. 2.; 10 November). Washington, DC : Organization of American States.Google Scholar
Reuters News Service - Buenos Aires (1996). 7 October.Google Scholar
Schmitt, E. (1995) “School for Assassins or Aid to Latin Democracy. The New York times (3 April): 4.Google Scholar
Slocombe, W. (Under Secretary of Defense for Policy) (1996) “Dod Support for the Fy 1997 Security Assistance Budget Request. The Disam Journal 18 (Summer).Google Scholar
Smith, C. A. (Bahamian Minister of Public Safety and Immigration) (1995) “Summary of the Working Group: Defense Cooperation;” Defense Ministerial of the Americas held in Williamsburg, VA (24–26 July). Washington, DC : US Department of Defense.Google Scholar
United States. Department of Defense (US-DOD) (1996) Defense 96. Washington, DC : US Department of Defense.Google Scholar
United States. General Accounting Office (US-GAO) (1996) School of the Americas: U.S. Military Training for Latin American Countries (GAO/NSIAD-96–178; August). Washington, DC : US General Accounting Office.Google Scholar
VANCott, D. (1996) Defeat Again: Indigenous People and Latin American Security (McNair paper #53; October). Washington, DC : National Defense University.Google Scholar
(The) Wall Street Journal (1996) (29 August): a-1.Google Scholar
Youngers, C. (1996) The Andean Quagmire: Rethinking US Drug Control Efforts in the Andes (WOLA Briefing Series: Issues in International Drug Policies; March). Washington, DC : Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).Google Scholar