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February 14 |
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Depression Diplomacy |
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Secretary of State Cordell Hull. A champion of the idea that freer economic exchange between countries would bring peace, he sponsored tariff reciprocity agreements with Latin American countries. The unintended consequence, however, was to bind these economies closer to the American economy. |
| The Good Neighbor Policy was among the more striking initiatives in US policy toward Latin America. Historians debate the motives of FDR, the long-term effect of the policy, and amount of latitude the policy gave to Latin American governments. At the very least, however, the Good Neighbor Policy represented a significant change in tactics from the United States--as even Roorda, a historian quite critical of FDR's approach, concedes. |
READING:
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Eric Roorda, The Good Neighbor Next Door, pp. 31-126, for which these reading notes exist. |
DOCUMENTS:
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FDR gives his interpretation of the Good Neighbor Policy, and commemorates Wilson's Latin American policy |
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The Montevideo accords, which established the principle of non-intervention |
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Cordell Hull at the 1936 Buenos Aires Conferences takes notice of the altered international situation |