The United States and Latin America

Abstract

E in the United States have been acquiring a painful awareness of Latin America during the last two or three years. The long period of neglect, of taking the region for granted, of profitable investments (exploitation, we are now told) is changing. In the world of power politics it was our area, our sphere of influence. We had a document to prove it-the Monroe Doctrine; we had twenty sure votes in the United Nations; Communism was weak and the cold war never directly involved any nation south of the Rio Grande or in the Caribbean. One result of this comfortable state of affairs is a profouind and general ignorance of Latin America in the United States. Few of our Congressmen know anything about the area and none is a specialist in Latin American affairs. For the past eight years there has been no expert in the area at the White House to advise President Eisenhower. The nearest anyone came to it was the President's brother, Dr Milton Eisenhower, an educator who made two brief trips-one to South America and one to Central America on behalf of the President. Our State Department, to be sure, is reasonably well provided with Latin American specialists. We also have a number of first-rate Latin Americanists in the academic world, although not nearly enough. The Cuban Revolution has come upon us and there is not a single North American professor in any of our universities who had specialized in Cuban affairs. As a journalist I have to confess that little attention has been paid to Latin America in our mass communications media, few newspapermen know the area, and there is very little interest amidst the general public. We are ill prepared as a Government and as a people for the crisis that has now come upon us. Ignorance in the conduct of foreign affairs is dangerous, and when it is compounded with emotionalism, as is the case with Cuba, there is reason to be frightened. Yet, as I said at the beginning, there is at least an awareness today that Latin America exists, that it is in crisis, and that the area is vital to our continued existence as a world Power economically superior to the Soviet Union. No student of Latin American affairs can claim that United States policies have been successful, but nations, like individuals, can learn and can correct mistakes. We are changing some of our policies, but unless the Latin American countries change some of their policies things are going to get worse for them and for us. Perhaps one should add that we will need a bit of luck, especially in the case of Cuba. The reasons why 9