U.S. Interventions in Central America
by Rit NosotroChange Over Time essay
List and explain 6 to 10 US interventions into Central America in the 20th century.
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Summary:
Throughout the 20th century the United States has played a large part in the affairs of Central American countries and has helped to maintain a sense of order and to alleviate repressive governments. This has allowed strongholds of worldviews and governmental agendas such as communism to lose their grip, thus opening the doors for evangelical missionary work in these countries. The following explanations explain how several interventions accomplished this purpose.
U.S. protects banana trade in Honduras, meanwhile removing dictator
from power
One of the earliest U.S. Central American interventions of the 20th century
occurred in 1907 when the United States became concerned with the liberalist
president of Nicaragua, Jose Santos Zelaya. Fearing that Zelaya would take over
Honduras and attempt to use its resources for his own benefit, the U.S. intervened.
The U.S. was able to stop Nicaraguan deployment of troops headed to Honduras
to overthrow a dictator named Bonilla. This intervention was to the benefit
of the U.S., as they held a valuable banana trade with Honduras at the time,
which may have been controlled by Zelaya's seizes of private property. He was
notoriously known for his desire for wealth and power, and fulfillment of that
desire at the loss of other countries. If the U.S. had not intervened, this
may have occurred in Honduras as well. After the halting of Zelaya's schematic
military move, the U.S. tried to negotiate a peace agreement and inaugurate
another president for Nicaragua, and was partially successful in both endeavors.
U.S. Intervention in Nicaragua helps to strengthen conservative power
For twenty-one years, from 1912 to 1933, the United States kept a small
band of troops within Nicaraguan borders. At times this band diminished to less
than one hundred, yet it remained a statement to Central America of the U.S.'s
determination to keep conservative rulers in positions of authority, proving
to be somewhat effective. The U.S. also encouraged peace in Nicaragua by helping
to establish a truce between conservative and liberal parties. Throughout the
early twentieth century, the United States was involved in Nicaraguan affairs
at least half a dozen times. The U.S.'s acts of support for the conservatives
allowed for less of a chance of establishing a dictatorship or communistic type
of government, which assisted in keeping the doors open for missionary activity.
In November of 1926, Nicaraguan president Diaz requested a full-scale U.S. intervention. Slowly, the liberals had been gaining power and U.S. president Calvin Coolidge had ignored the situation. It took a series of atrocities against U.S. citizens and property to wake him up. The liberals augmented these atrocities by levying taxes on American businesses and killing U.S. citizens.1 On January 10, 1927, President Coolidge informed Congress that he was ready to do all he could to protect U.S. assets in Nicaragua. This meant working against the left-wing politicians who held no respect for private property. Thus the U.S. Marine Corps supplied materials and military aid to Nicaragua to prevent further leftist takeover of U.S. assets.
CIA overthrows Guatemalan elected socialist president
In 1951 the Guatemalan people elected Col. Jacobo Arbenz, a socialist, to the presidency. In 1952, Arbenz enabled the communist Guatemalan Labor Party to become a recognized political organization. His goal was to take supposedly "unused" land from large landowners (such as the United States United Fruit Company - UFCO - a major economic asset and banana trading company) and distribute it to peasants. This enabled him to gain popularity among the lower class of Guatemala. Obviously, United Fruit Company was angered by this. In 1954, the U.S. authorized a CIA orchestrated coup and overthrew Arbenz, placing a right-wing official into power. This greatly benefited UFCO because the new ruler would bend to its every desire, and at the same time prevented a communistic or socialistic takeover, such as which have historically created animosity towards Christianity.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan takes strong stand against communism
The presidential term of U.S. president Ronald Reagan brought with it strong opposition to communism in Central America, specifically in Nicaragua. President Reagan was instrumental in assisting a group of counter-revolutionaries called "contras". These contras fought against the power of Sandanistas who were bringing "Cuban-style communism"2 into Nicaragua. On November 23 of 1981, President Reagan authorized the CIA to assist the Contras in destabilizing and overthrowing the Sandinista regime by aiding them with $19 million of military assistance. These words from one of Reagan's speeches in May of 1984 say it best, as he stated:
"Central America is a region of great importance to the United States . . . It's at our doorstep, and it's become the stage for a bold attempt by the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Nicaragua to install communism by force throughout the hemisphere. . . .I want to tell you. . . about the real nature of the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. The Sandinistas, who rule Nicaragua, are Communists whose relationship and ties to Fidel Castro of Cuba go back a quarter of a century. . . we Americans should be proud of what we're trying to do in Central America, and proud of what. . . we can do in Central America to support democracy, human rights, and economic growth while preserving peace so close to home. Let us show the world that we want no hostile Communist colonies here in the Americas—South, Central, or North."3
By studying these U.S. acts and their consequences, we may observe a general historical trend of the United States lessening the influence of communism. Certainly the U.S. acted inappropriately at times due to to such monetary incentives as the UFCO, yet this paper chose not to focus on those wrongdoings. The United States did play an instrumental role in preventing the spread of communism and socialistic-type policies in Central America. By trying to protect private property and lives of its citizenship, the U.S. often worked against left-wing liberals having connections to communists. Thus by examining several U.S. interventions in Central America, we see that the outcomes and motives for these activities were varied. The United States often acted only because of their interests and property. However, God in His sovereignty allowed the U.S. interventions to benefit His heart for all the nations to know Him. Psalm 67:1-2 provides evidence for this: "God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah. That Your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations." Thus, throughout the twentieth century, the U.S. has often been instrumental in preventing and discouraging communist takeover of these lands. This has in turn allowed doors to remain open for the gospel instead of building walls of hatred and animosity.
Quick Quiz:
1. During the twentieth century, U.S. interventions in Central America did which of the following?
a. Helped a team of American scientists discover a new fertilizer which produced
bigger bananas.
b. Generally stopped the spread of communism.
c. Encouraged a "take from the rich and give to the poor" mindset.
d. Supported left-wing candidates whenever possible
2. True/False - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge ignored the situation in Nicaragua until he really realized the effect it was having on his country's property and citizens.
3. Which U.S. President said "Let us show the world that we want no hostile Communist colonies . . . in the Americas"?
a. Ronald Reagan
b. Calvin Coolidge
c. George Washington
d. Mickey Mouse
4. In 1907, the U.S. intervened in Nicaragua to:
a. Stop Zelaya from taking over property in Honduras
b. Draw up a peace agreement between Honduras and Nicaragua
c. Stop Bonilla from exporting too many bananas
d. Find something to do
Endnotes:
1History of Guatemala. Campus Program.com. November 8, 2004. <http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/h/hi/history_of_guatemala.html>
2Contra.Campusprogram.com. November 5, 2004. <http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/c/co/contra.html>
3 Support for the Contras. Houghton Mifflin College Division
Bibliography:
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