The Impact of the Mexican Revolution in Inter-American Politics: U.S.–Mexican Relations and U.S. Foreign Policy at the Fifth Pan-American Conference of 1923

Abstract

This paper examines the overlooked influence of United States (U.S.)–Mexico relations and the Mexican Revolution in inter-American politics through a history of the Fifth Pan-American Conference of 1923. By 1923, the U.S. government had not recognised Mexico's revolutionary regime, which prevented Mexican participation in the preparatory meetings for the conference to be held in Santiago, Chile. When Mexico controversially refused to send a delegation, U.S.–Mexican politics inspired a debate over inter-American politics and U.S. foreign policy that played out at the conference. U.S.–Mexican relations opened a critical moment in which delegations with competing interests vis-à-vis the United States battled each other to try to influence U.S. foreign policy. Criticism of U.S. foreign policy hastened U.S. diplomatic recognition of Mexico's revolutionary government and produced discussions on multilateralism in the Americas. This article thus reveals the rich influence of the Mexican Revolution in the Americas and the malleability of U.S. power.