GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY

The term "Good Neighbor Policy" is used to describe the Latin American policy of the United States from 1933 to 1945. But the policy did not actually begin in 1933. During the 1920s there had been increasing criticism in Latin America that the United States was an aggressive and overbearing power. President Herbert Hoover, who was elected president in 1928, sought an improvement in inter-American relations and visited a number of Latin American countries prior to his inauguration. This conciliatory policy was continued by Hoover's successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. In fact it acquired a name as a result of part of Roosevelt's inaugural address of March 4, 1933, in which he stated that American foreign policy would in future be dedicated to "the policy of the good neighbor." The concept of acting as a good neighbor implied equality and mutual respect among adjacent nations and was specifically applied by Roosevelt to the countries of the Western Hemisphere. Thus, it was Roosevelt and not Hoover who became popularly regarded as the originator of the Good Neighbor Policy.

Roosevelt's speech in 1933 affirmed American good intentions but was vague on detail. Indeed, the resulting Good Neighbor Policy was neither planned nor systematically implemented. Behind the uplifting rhetoric, however, was a desire to promote commercial relations to help the American economy recover from the Great Depression. In practical terms, closer economic contact was secured by the negotiation of a series of reciprocal trade agreements. Starting with Cuba in 1934, reciprocity arrangements were concluded with eleven Latin American countries by 1939. Trade was also expanded by the creation in 1934 of the Export-Import Bank to provide foreign countries with credit for the purchase of imports from the United States. Further inter-American contact and cooperation was achieved by cultural and educational exchange programs that facilitated the movement of scholars and scientists.

For Latin Americans the sincerity of U.S. pretensions to be a good neighbor was contingent on U.S. disavowal of the policy of military intervention in Latin American domestic affairs. Hoover had already ordered the withdrawal of U.S. marines from Nicaragua. Roosevelt accelerated a similar plan for withdrawal from Haiti. The right of the United States to interfere in Cuba ended in 1934 with the abrogation of the Platt Amendment, which had been incorporated into the 1901 Cuban Constitution and gave the U.S. the legal right of military intervention in Cuban affairs. Similar evidence of good neighborliness was illustrated by the U.S. refusal to give military support to American oil companies in their disputes with the governments of Bolivia and Mexico. These actions contributed to a distinct improvement in inter-American relations, so that most Latin American countries joined the United States in organizing resistance against the fascist threat posed by Germany and Italy during World War II. The Good Neighbor Policy was, therefore, successful in improving the image of the United States in Latin America. At the same time, however, the policy also served to increase U.S. economic and military influence. The Latin American nations were nominal equals of the United States, but they remained vulnerable to the great power of their northern neighbor.

GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY

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