Transcript Latin America and the US - IsaiahsSocialStudiesMethods

Latin America
and the U.S.
The Monroe Doctrine
• Western Hemisphere is the United States'
sphere of interest.
• Warns European nations that the United States
would not tolerate further colonization or
puppet monarchs.
• 1865: U.S. government exerted diplomatic and
military pressure in support of the Mexican
President Benito Juárez. This support led to a
successful revolt against the Emperor
Maximilian, who had been placed on the
throne by the French government.
• President Theodore Roosevelt promptly
proclaimed the right of the United States to
exercise an “international police power.”
• U. S. Marines were sent into Santo Domingo in
1904, Nicaragua in 1911, and Haiti in 1915, to
keep the Europeans out.
NAFTA
• The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement
signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States,
creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
• Within 10 years of the implementation of the agreement, all US-Mexico
tariffs would be eliminated except for some U.S. agricultural exports to
Mexico that were to be phased out within 15 years. Most U.S.-Canada
trade was already duty free. NAFTA also seeks to eliminate non-tariff trade
barriers
• From 1994 to 2007, U.S. net manufacturing employment has declined by
3,654,000, and during this period several other free trade agreements
have been concluded or expanded.
The War on Drugs
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Begins in 1969
U.S. government has spent over $2.5
trillion fighting the War on Drugs.
The U.S. is the largest consumer of
drugs.
90% of cocaine reaches the U.S.
through its southern border. Violence
in Mexico has gotten so bad that it is
spilling into states such as Arizona.
Bush administration's 2002 goal of
reducing all illegal drug use by 25% led
to unprecedented numbers of
marijuana-related arrests, pot use
only declined 6% (and the use of
other drugs actually increased).
In Mexico 5,300 people were killed in
drug-related crimes in 2008 .
The War on Drugs
• Bolivia: There have been DEA agents who, carrying out
espionage, financed rogue groups with the intention of
taking the lives of [Bolivian government] officials,
though not the President's.
• A peasant in certain remote parts of Colombia has a
choice: grow corn, rice, potatoes and vegetables for
prices that fluctuate and sometimes barely make it
worthwhile, or grow coca, safe in the knowledge of a
handsome return.
• Eradication campaigns in Afghanistan and Colombia
have left drug production unaffected but alienated
locals, gifting political capital to insurgents.
Cuba
• 1898: US defeats Spain, which gives up all claims to Cuba and
cedes it to the US.
• 1906-09: US occupies Cuba following a rebellion led by Jose
Miguel Gomez.
• 1909: Jose Miguel Gomez becomes president following elections
supervised by the US, but is soon tarred by corruption.
• 1912: US forces return to Cuba to help put down black protests
against discrimination.
• 1959: Castro leads a 9,000-strong guerrilla army into Havana,
forcing Batista to flee. Castro becomes prime minister.
• 1959: Castro meets Richard Nixon who wrote that the US had no
choice but to try to "orient" the leftist leader in the "right
direction".
Cuba
• 1960: All US businesses in Cuba are nationalized
without compensation; US breaks off diplomatic
relations and imposes a trade embargo.
• 1961: US backs invasion by Cuban exiles at the Bay of
Pigs.
• 1961: The CIA begins to make plans to assassinate
Castro.
• 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
• 1993: US tightens embargo
• 1996: Embargo made permanent in response to US
planes being shot down.
Mexico
• 1830-45, US helps Texas revolt.
• 1845, US offers to buy NM & CA. Mexico refuses & US invades; takes the
land.
• Monroe Doctrine was used to help the revolt against the French in 1867.
• 1900, US railroads are built by labor of 60% Mexicans.
• 1914 & 16, US invades Mexico.
• Great Depression, Americans are forced to work farms in the Southwest
& view Mexican migrants as competition for jobs.
• 1954, “Operation Wetback”
• 1969, War on Drugs begins
• http://www.cfr.org/mexico/us-mexico-relations-1810-present/p19092
Panama
• On November 4, 1903, the immediate support
of the USA secured the Declaration of
Independence of Panama from Colombia. In
return, the Panamanian signed three week
later the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, granting
the USA sovereign rights over the Inter
oceanic canal that would be built in the
following year.
Chile
• US sent in about 100 people with assigned tasks to prevent Allende`s
victory. In order to influence the public opinion, the CIA embarked on a
propaganda campaign through radio, TV, posters, wall paintings, and
pamphlets, with a goal of connecting communist atrocities to Allende.
• Covert American activity was present in almost every major election in
Chile in the decade between 1963 and 1973.
• The CIA would find military officers willing to support a coup and provide
them with support. They could then call new elections in which Allende
could be defeated. In Sept. 1970, Nixon found that an Allende regime in
Chile would not be acceptable & authorized $10 million to stop Allende
from coming to power or unseat him.
• The kidnapping and death of General René Schneider shocked the public
and increased support of the Chilean Constitution. Schneider was the
army chief commander and a constitutionalist, which meant he would not
support a coup.
• CIA documents indicate that while the CIA had sought his kidnapping, his
killing was never intended.
Nicaragua
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Initially invited by the Liberals in 1855 to join their struggle against the
Conservatives, an American named William Walker and his "Filibusterers" seized
the presidency in 1856.
In 1857, the Liberals and Conservatives united to drive Walker out of office.
In 1909 the United States provided political support to Conservative-led forces
rebelling against President Zelaya and intervened militarily to protect American
lives and property. With the exception of a 9-month period in 1925-26, the United
States maintained troops in Nicaragua from 1912 until 1933.
The United States suspended aid to Nicaragua in 1981 after US backed dictator is
overthrown. Later the Reagan administration provided assistance to the
Nicaraguan resistance (Contras) & in 1985 imposed an embargo on U.S.Nicaraguan trade.
During the war against the Sandinista government, the contras carried out many
violations of human rights. 200,000 dead at hands of contra death squads.
US sold arms to Iran to fund the Contras who funded themselves with drug money
from Nicaragua & Panama. The drugs were likely sold in the US.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/US_Special_Forces_counterinsurgency_manual_analysis