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The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade. James G. Blaine, a United States politician, Secretary of State and presidential contender, first proposed establishment of closer ties between the United States and its southern neighbors and proposed international conference. [1] Blaine hoped that ties between the United States and its southern counterparts would open Latin American markets to US trade.
On 2 December 1823, President James Monroe delivered the 'Monroe Doctrine' which would eventually influence Secretary of State James G. Blaine to push for the creation of the Pan-American Conferences. In this speech, President Monroe stated that any further attempts by the Europeans to colonize the Americas (North, Central and South) would be seen as an act of aggression and would risk intervention by the United States. This doctrine was set in place in order to ensure that the colonies that were currently in place (and independent) would remain that way and to ensure that the Americas would be able to remain independent of each other and yet bond each other together at the same time. This unofficial union of the countries that comprised North, Central and South America would allow for relationships to slowly develop between the countries.
In an attempt to solidify the idea of the "Western Hemisphere", Secretary of State James. G. Blaine determined that if the United States were to be the country that put forward the idea of a Union of the Americas, the United States would hold the upper hand and would be able to guide the agenda as well as carry heavy weight in major decision-makings. Another reason for this union was for the United States to be financially benefited from the other countries – this is an aspect that the other countries soon realized, and through the conferences, attempted to prevent this from occurring.
However, when President Garfield was assassinated, Blaine was removed from his post and the process for creating the Pan-American Conference was slowed down. Eventually, through the lobbying of Congress, Blaine was able to schedule the first Pan- American Conference in January 1889.
First used in the New York Evening Post in 1888, the term "Pan-Americanism" was coined. [2] Pan-Americanism refers to the movement toward commercial, social, economic, military, and political cooperation among the nations of North, Central, and South America. The term was largely used the following year at the First International Conference of American States in Washington D.C. 1889-90. [3]
International summits have been held in the following cities:
Dates / Year [4] | City | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
October 2, 1889 – April 1890 | Washington D.C. | United States | See First International Conference of American States |
October 22, 1901 – January 31, 1902 | México | Mexico | |
July 21 – August 26, 1906 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | |
July 12 – August 30, 1910 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | |
March 25 – May 3, 1923 | Santiago de Chile | Chile | Pan-American Treaty |
January 16 – February 20, 1928 | Havana | Cuba |
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December 3–26, 1933 | Montevideo | Uruguay |
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December 3-26, 1936 | Buenos Aires | Argentina |
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December 9–27, 1938 | Lima | Peru |
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January 15–28, 1942 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | The meeting was organized in the wake of US entry into World War II as well as the United States' intention to use the occasion to offer additional economic assistance to Latin America countries, in return for security cooperation and the severing of diplomatic ties with the Axis powers. [11] [12] |
February 21–8 March 1945 | Chapultepec, Mexico | Mexico | The goals of the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace were to establish the status of Argentina, relate regional security to the United Nations, and consider postwar American economic aid. Argentina would be readmitted if it declared war on Germany. The issue of American aid was postponed. the conference adopted a formal resolution called the Act of Chapultepec which proclaimed the principle of collective self-defense through regional pacts. This policy was adopted by the United Nations and article 51 of the UN charter. [13] |
March 30 – May 2, 1948 | Bogota | Colombia | Led by Alberto Lleras Camargo and General George C. Marshall, created the Organization of American States [14] |
March 1–28, 1954 | Caracas | Venezuela | US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles attempted to convince the delegates that Jacobo Árbenz's Guatemala represented a communist threat to the Western hemisphere. The US government was later successful in overthrowing the Guatemalan government by secretly instigating a military coup d'état. [15] |
1967 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | |
1985 | Cartagena | Colombia | |
December 1994 | Miami | United States | |
1996 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | Bolivia | |
1998 | Santiago | Chile | |
2001 | Québec City | Canada |
Pan-American Conferences trace their origins back to earlier Pan-American summits. The four Latin American Conferences took place prior to the Pan-American Conferences but were highly influential in the campaign to create the Pan-American Union. They are as follows:
Congress of Panama on June 22, 1826 in Panama City Initiated by general Simon Bolivar (a Venezuelan political and military leader), the first Latin American Conference took place in Panama. Bolivar wanted to unite all of Latin America together in order to prevent invasion by the United States as well as other major powers at that time. The United States was permitted to send representatives, and President John Quincy Adams supported the initiative, but the United States Congress was slow to provide funding for the delegation and the U.S. representatives failed to attend the conference. Titled the Panama Congress, the countries agreed to unite, convene with each other on a regular basis and provide financial and military backing to the treaty.
The Second Latin American Conference, December 1847 – March 1, 1848 in Lima, Peru The Latin American Conference in Lima, Peru was in response to two threats: the fear of Spanish designs upon South America's west coast and the U.S. incursion into Mexico. [17] Although the United States were in the middle of a war with Mexico at the time of the conference, the United States was permitted to send a representative to serve as a symbol of unity to the forces present outside of the Americas (mainly Europe).
The Third Latin American Conference in September 1856 in Santiago Although this conference only consisted of two meetings, it was called due to the worry that the Latin Americans had towards the United States regarding their want of more territory and this time the United States was not invited. There was an attempt at signing a Continental Treaty but it fell through due to disagreements between the delegates.
The fourth Latin American Conference in November 1864 in Lima, Peru Failed in its attempts to make any agreements regarding the intervention that had taken place by mostly European powers. At this time, there had been an increased amount of interaction between Latin America and the United States through the actions that the European powers took regarding the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Chincha Islands.
James Gillespie Blaine was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881.
Latin America is a cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages—languages derived from Latin—are predominantly spoken. The term was coined in the nineteenth century, to refer to regions in the Americas that were ruled by the Spanish, Portuguese and French empires. The term does not have a precise definition, but it is "commonly used to describe South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean." In a narrow sense, it refers to Spanish America plus Brazil and Haiti. The term "Latin America" is broader than categories such as Hispanic America, which specifically refers to Spanish-speaking countries; and Ibero-America, which specifically refers to both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries while leaving French and British excolonies aside.
The Organization of American States is an international organization that was founded on 30 April 1948 for the purposes of solidarity and co-operation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in the United States capital, Washington, D.C., the OAS has 35 members, which are independent states in the Americas. Since the 1990s, the organization has focused on election monitoring. The Secretary General of the OAS is Uruguayan Luis Almagro.
The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt towards Latin America. Although the policy was implemented by the Roosevelt administration, President Woodrow Wilson had previously used the term, but subsequently went on to justify U.S. involvement in the Mexican Revolution and occupation of Haiti. Senator Henry Clay had coined the term Good Neighbor in the previous century. President Herbert Hoover turned against interventionism and developed policies that Roosevelt perfected.
The Havana Conference was a conference held in the Cuban capital, Havana, from July 21 to July 30, 1940. At the meeting by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the United States, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Bolivia, Haiti and El Salvador agreed to collectively govern territories of nations that were taken over by the Axis powers of World War II and also declared that an attack on any nation in the region would be considered as an attack on all nations.
The Rio Group (G-Rio) was a permanent association of political consultation of Latin America and Caribbean countries, created in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 18, 1986 with the purpose of creating a better political relationship among the countries. It was succeeded in 2011 by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance is an agreement signed in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro among many countries of the Americas. The central principle contained in its articles is that an attack against one is to be considered an attack against them all; this was known as the "hemispheric defense" doctrine. Despite this, several members have breached the treaty on multiple occasions. The treaty was initially created in 1947 and came into force in 1948, in accordance with Article 22 of the treaty. The Bahamas was the most recent country to sign and ratify it in 1982.
Pan-Americanism is a movement that seeks to create, encourage, and organize relationships, associations and cooperation among the states of the Americas, through diplomatic, political, economic, and social means.
The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act against the United States. The doctrine was central to American foreign policy for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The First International Conference of American States was held in Washington, D.C., United States, from 20 January to 27 April 1890.
Historically speaking, bilateral relations between the various countries of Latin America and the United States of America have been multifaceted and complex, at times defined by strong regional cooperation and at others filled with economic and political tension and rivalry. Although relations between the U.S. government and most of Latin America were limited prior to the late 1800s, for most of the past century, the United States has unofficially regarded parts of Latin America as within its sphere of influence, and for much of the Cold War (1947–1991), actively vied with the Soviet Union for influence in the Western Hemisphere.
The integration of Latin America has a history going back to Spanish American and Brazilian independence, when there was discussion of creating a regional state or confederation of Latin American nations to protect the area's newly won autonomy. After several projects failed, the issue was not taken up again until the late 19th century, but now centered on the issue of international trade and with a sense of pan-Americanism, owing to the United States of America taking a leading role in the project. The idea of granting these organizations a primarily political purpose did not become prominent again until the post-World War II period, which saw both the start of the Cold War and a climate of international cooperation that led to the creation of institutions such as the United Nations. It would not be until the mid-20th century that uniquely Latin American organizations were created.
The Panama Conference was a meeting by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the United States, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Bolivia, Haiti and El Salvador in Panama City at the Republic of Panama on September 23, 1939, shortly after the beginning of World War II in Europe.
The Inter-American Commission of Women, abbreviated CIM, is an organization that falls within the Organization of American States. It was established in 1928 by the Sixth Pan-American Conference and is composed of one female representative from each Republic in the Union. In 1938, the CIM was made a permanent organization, with the goal of studying and addressing women's issues in the Americas.
Esther Neira de Calvo (1890–1978) was a prominent educator, feminist and women's right advocate. She was the first woman elected as a National Deputy to the Third Constituent Assembly in Panama. She was the founder and president of the National Society for the Advancement of Women and of the Women's Patriotic League, and actively worked for Panamanian women's enfranchisement, finally attained in 1945–46. She served as Executive Secretary of the Inter American Commission of Women from 1949 to 1965 and was Panama's Ambassador to the Council of the Organization of American States from 1966 to 1968.
Aída Parada Hernández was a Chilean educator, feminist, founding member of Movimiento Pro-Emancipación de las Mujeres de Chile and the first Chilean delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women.
Juanita Molina de Fromen was a Nicaraguan educator and feminist. She was one of the delegates to the Inter-American Commission of Women in 1930.
Charles Lyon Chandler was an American consul and historian of Latin America–United States relations. A Harvard graduate who came to South America in the Consular Service, he became a student and proponent of Pan-Americanism. His pioneering 1915 book Inter-American Acquaintances proposed a new, Pan-American origin for the Monroe Doctrine. After being denied a permanent diplomatic appointment he worked for the Southern Railway and the Corn Exchange Bank; at the same time he became a respected independent scholar who helped found the Hispanic American Historical Review. Beside many articles on early inter-American relations, he co-authored an unpublished biography of Joel Roberts Poinsett. During World War II he worked in Brazil for the U.S. government, and before retirement he taught at Haverford, Georgetown and Ursinus.
The history of U.S. foreign policy from 1861 to 1897 concerns the foreign policy of the United States during the presidential administrations of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison. The period began with the outbreak of the American Civil War 1861 and ended with the 1897 inauguration of William McKinley, whose administration commenced a new period of U.S. foreign policy.