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The United States and Latin-American Revolutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Robert Freeman Smith
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Extract

The policy of the United States. toward social and economic revolutions in Latin America is a subject of wide U. S. concern. The rumblings of discontent in this area, coupled with the current crisis in Cuban- American relations, have stimulated the writing of numerous articles and books. In order to grasp some understanding of the current situation, however, it is necessary to place the subject in its historical perspective. This in itself will not automatically furnish any solutions, but perhaps it will give some coherence to a complex subject which has its roots in the past development of United States foreign policy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Inter-American Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , January 1962 , pp. 89 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1962

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References

1 Some examples of this view may be found in: Greene, Fred, “The Military View of American National Policy, 1904-1940”, The American Historical Review (January, 1961), 354–377 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rosenman, Samuel I., Working With Roosevelt (New York, 1952), 259, 263Google Scholar; Hull, Cordell, The Memoirs of Cordell Hull, 2 Vols. (New York, 1948), I: 889–895 Google Scholar; Woodrow Wilson's “Peace Without Victory” speech delivered to the Senate on January 22, 1917, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 20 Vols. (New.York, N.D.), XVII: 8202-8203; Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson's speech to the Union League Club of Philadelphia in November, 1932, The Commercial and Financial Chronicle (November 26, 1932), 3624-3625. A view of this policy from a different perspective may be found in William A. Williams, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (Cleveland, 1959).

2 For an analysis of the Anglo-American understanding see Beale, Howard K., Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power (Baltimore, 1956), 142–145 Google Scholar. See also, William Howard Taft's “Annual Message to Congress” delivered on December 3, 1912, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, XVI: 7770-7772; and Woodrow Wilson's Second and Third Annual Addresses to Congress in 1914 and 1915, Ibid., 8021, 8109. Editorial comment in The Reporter (March 20, 1958), 8.

3 Stimson, Henry L., The United States and the Other American Republics (Department of State, Latin American Series No. 4, Washington, 1931)Google Scholar, 5. See also Woodrow Wilson's Third Annual Address to Congress of December 1915, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, XVII: 8102-8104.

4 Whitaker, Arthur P., The Western Hemisphere Idea (Ithaca, 1954), 89–95 Google Scholar. Callcott, Wilfred Hardy, The Caribbean Policy of the United States, 1890-1920 (Baltimore, 1942), 190–192.Google Scholar

5 Ibid, 213; Whitaker, Western Hemisphere Idea, 95-99.

6 Memorandum by the Counselor for the Department of State (Lansing), June 11, 1914, U. S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: The Lansing Papers, 1914-1920, 2 Vols. (Washington, 1939), II: 461-465; Memorandum by the Secretary of State (Lansing) entitled, “The Present Nature and Extent of the Monroe Doctrine”, Ibid, 469-470. For similar statements concerning this problem see, Instructions to the Delegates to the Havana Conference, 1928, U. S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1928, 3 Vols. (Washington, 1942), I: 578-579; Memorandum; Conversation between Mr. White and Mr. Stimson, “Latin America and the Problems which might come up during the present economic depression and political unrest”, October 7, 1930, National Archives, State Department Record Group No. 59 (henceforth cited as NA), 710.11/1499; Herbert Feis, “The Export of American Capital”, Foreign Affairs (July, 1925), 668.

7 William Howard Taft's “Annual Address to Congress”, of December 1912, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, XVI: 7770-7772. Secretary Knox outlined some of these ideas to Professor Paul S. Reinsch in an attempt to get the support of Robert La Follette for the Knox-Castrillo Convention, Philander C. Knox to Paul S. Reinsch, May 3, 1911, Paul S. Reinsch Papers (State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison).

8 For examples of this see: Memorandum, “Questions Pending in Central America, Haiti, and Santo Domingo”, prepared by Dana Munro, February 28, 1922, NA 711.13/59; Memorandum, “Our Central American Policy”, prepared by Francis White, November 7, 1924, NA 711.13/65; Secretary of State to the Appointed Ambassador in Cuba (Welles), May 1, 1933, NA 711.37/178a.

9 Dunn, Frederick, The Diplomatic Protection of Americans in Mexico, (New York, 1933), 319 (note 16).Google Scholar

10 Ibid., 325-330.

11 Ibid., 330-331.

12 Ibid.: Memorandum, by the Under Secretary of State (Davis), “Conversation with Mr. Pesqueira, Financial Representative of Mexico”, September 23, 1920, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1920, 3 Vols. (Washington, 1936), III: 185-187. Memorandums of Conversations with the Mexican Envoy, Iglesias Calderón, July 9, and August 24, 1920, Norman H. Davis Papers (Library of Congress, Washington, D. C).

13 Woodrow Wilson to the Secretary of State, August 4, 1919, NA 711.12/187; Henry P. Fletcher to the President, August 18, 1919, NA 711.12/187; Robert Lansing to the President, August 21, 1919, NA 711.12/19iy2. The correspondence between Watriss and Fletcher can be found in the State Department Archives and in the Henry P. Fletcher Papers (Library of Congress, Washington, D. C).

14 Henry P. Fletcher to the Secretary of State, March 10, 1918, NA 812.51/420. Robert Lansing believed that German intrigue was the “controlling factor” in the Mexican policy of the U. S. between late 1915 and the end of the war; Robert Lansing, Private Notes, 1915-1916; Robert Lansing to Edward N. Smith, March 3, 1917, Robert Lansing Papers (Library of Congress, Washington, D. C).

15 Franklin K. Lane to Robert Lansing, December 1, 1919, NA 711.12/224%. Lane and Postmaster General Albert S. Rurleson advocated “drastic measures” against Mexico in November 1919, while Newton D. Baker, Josephus Daniels, and William B. Wilson were opposed; Robert Lansing, Desk Diary, 1919, Lansing Papers.

16 Robert Lansing, Private Notes 1919. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Assistant Secretary of the Navy) to the Secretary of State, August 7, 1919, NA 711.12/194%. The Jenkins Case brought matters to a head in 1919, but Lansing stressed the “numerous violations of American rights, both of person and property …”, Robert Lansing, Private Notes 1919.

17 Congressional Record, 66th Cong., 1st Sess., 1919, Vol. 58, Part 3, 2421.

18 Thomas Lamont to Charles Evans Hughes, April 29, 1922; January 15, 1924; February 9, 1924; Charles Evans Hughes Papers (Library of Congress, Washington, D. C); Charles Evans Hughes to President Warren Harding, March 25, 1922, NA 812.00/25494.

19 Summer Welles to the Secretary of State, September 18, 1933, NA 837.00/3934.

20 Smith, Robert F., The United States and Cuba: Business and Diplomacy, 1917-1960 (New York, 1960), 150–155.Google Scholar

21 Ibid., 145-147.

22 Blum, John Morton, From the Morgenthau Diaries: Years of Crisis, 1928-1938 (Boston, 1959), 497.Google Scholar

23 Alexander, Robert J., The Bolivian National Revolution (New Brunswick, N. J., 1958), xvii–xviii.Google Scholar

24 Ibid., 260-261.

25 Shapiro, Samuel, “Cuba: A Dissenting Report”, The New Republic (September 22, 1960), 23.Google Scholar

26 Max Frankel, “Cuba's Reds are Confident Castro is on Their Side,” New York Times (November 27, 1960), I: 1, 35. Much of this report was based on an interview with Rafael Rodriguez, the Communist editor of Hoy.

27 Raúl Castro was in agreement with Guevara, but the latter is always cited as the most indoctrination conscious. The conflict between Guevara and the non- Communist rebels developed prior to 1959, and helped set the stage for the later purges. Some of the most prominent non-Communists had fought in the II Frente del Escambray under Major Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, and by March, 1961, only two of the former officers of this group remained in official positions. Laura Bergquist, “Epitaph for a Big Loser,” Look (April 25, 1961), 91-94; based in part on interviews with the late Major William A. Morgan, who had served under Gutiérrez Menoyo. Andrew St. George, “A Revolution Gone Wrong,” Coronet (July, 1960), 114. Hispanic American Report (May, 1961), 216-217.

28 Martin, Harold H., “Can Castro Save Cuba?” The Saturday Evening Post (August 1, 1959), 41 Google Scholar. Pflaum, Irving P., Fidel of Cuba: Portrait of a Controversy (American Universities Field Staff, Mexico & Caribbean Area Series, Vol. V, No. 2. New York, 1960), 23 Google Scholar. Draper, Theodore, “The Runaway Revolution,” The Reporter (May 12, 1960), 18 Google Scholar.

29 Draper, Theodore, Cuba and U. S. Policy (New York, 1961), 21, 30-31Google Scholar; pamphlet reprint of an article in The New Leader, June 5, 1961.

30 Pflaum, Fidel of Cuba, 23-28. R. Hart Phillips, “Castro Gets the Bill,” The Reporter (October 29, 1959), 23-24.

31 Pflaum, Fidel of Cuba, 17-18, 26-27. Draper, Cuba and U. S. Policy, 9-11, 13-15.

32 Hispanic American Report (September, 1961), 603.

33 Seton-Watson, Hugh, From Lenin to Khrushchev (New York, 1960), 383–384 Google Scholar. Isaac Deutscher, “The New Communist Manifesto”, The Reporter (January 5, 1961), 28-30.

34 Pflaum, Fidel of Cuba, 14-16. Draper, “The Runaway Revolution”, 14-20.

35 Alexander, Bolivian National Revolution, 259.

36 United States Department of Commerce, V. S. Business Investments in Foreign Countries (Washington, 1960).

37 Kennedy, John F., The Strategy of Peace (New York, 1960), 168–169.Google Scholar

38 Stevenson, Adlai, “Our Plight in Latin America”, Look (November 22, 1960), 106.Google Scholar

39 Lieuwen, Edwin, Arms and Politics in Latin America (New York, 1960), 239–240.Google Scholar

40 New York Times (April 2, 1961, 1:21.

41 Finley Peter Dunne, Dissertations by Mr. Dooley (New York, 1906), 133. The Kennedy program is running into opposition from groups who fear that it will harm private investments. Some of these wish to continue past policies and return to armed intervention as a means of stopping revolutions which threaten private property. See, “Keeping Out the Reds by Revolution”, and the editorial, “A Program That Tries to Reach Too Far”, Business Week (July 15, 1961), 56-71, 128.