The Role of the Lima Congress, 1864-1865, in the Development of Pan-Americanism

Abstract

Early attempts to promote inter-American cooperation sought to achieve their object through the establishment of a confederation. The basis proposed for such a confederation was a defensive alliance, coupled with the formulation of an American international law to balance what was considered to be the existing European international law.' Implied in the project were certain limitations upon the conduct of external relations but interference with purely internal affairs was not contemplated. This phase of the development of Pan-Americanism continued through the Lima Congress of 1864-1865, the final attempt to achieve co6peration on the basis of confederation. Not until it was abandoned as impractical did the later phase of Pan-Americanism, namely, the idea of a family of nations cooperating in matters of common interest but neither forming alliances nor limiting sovereignty, receive the serious attention of the New World states.2 Hence the Lima Congress may be considered as a turning point in the development of inter-American cooperation and, as such, in the evolution of the concept of Pan-Americanism. There were many reasons why the initial phase of the movement failed to attain success. The weakness was not in the ob-