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GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS

GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS. A strategically important archipelago (group of islands), the Galápagos lie some 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. American interest in annexing the islands began in the mid-nineteenth century and peaked half a century later. In 1906 and 1911, negotiations to build a U.S. coal station failed, largely because of popular opposition in Ecuador. During World War II, the United States established weather and signal stations on the islands. In the 1960s and 1970s, Ecuador seized a number of U.S. fishing boats in the area. In retaliation, the United States temporarily suspended military aid to Ecuador.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baily, Samuel L. The United States and the Development of South America, 1945–1975. New York: New Viewpoints, 1976.

Schoultz, Lars. Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy Toward Latin America. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press, 1998.

E.T. Parks/A. G.

See also Fishing Bounties; Guano; Latin America, Relations with; Latin American Wars of Independence.