U.S.–Latin American Relations

U.S. – Latin American Relations is the next volume in Basic American Documents. It presents a collections of primary sources related to U.S. relations with the Latin American and Caribbean region. The selection of texts and documents seek to demonstrate a more modern and complicated history. There are, of course, several texts documenting the American domination over Latin American and Caribbean States. Of particular note are those outlining recent differences between the United States and its southern neighbors over anti-drug policy and attitudes toward economic development. The works of Simón Bolivar and Jose Marti have provided eloquent testimony of how American governments have historically sought to dominate its southern neighbors. Mexico, Cuba, and most of Central American and Caribbean States have especially painful memories of American imperialism. But there are also significant documents that demonstrate how the United States and the Latin American and Caribbean states have established significant forms of regional cooperation. In the past these agreements have helped to ease an otherwise conflicting sets of interests, values, and objectives. The pan-American movement in the 1920s and 1930s is perhaps the best example of this cooperation that at the time was historically unique in international affairs.