Abstract:
During the U.S. military interventions in Nicaragua, the Dominican
Republic, and Haiti between 1915 and 1934, Washington equipped
members of the its armed forces with civil and political powers that
represented a radical departure from the North American military tradition.
This abandonment of tradition decisively contributed to both the
disappointments of U.S. foreign policy in Central America and the Caribbean
during this period and the development of future conflicts in inter-American
relations. In the mind of many Latin Americans this period associated
democracy with military rule and foreign domination. In addition to modeling
military rule and lending credibility to military intervention to future Latin
American nations, this policy facilitated and helped to perpetuate some of the
most destructive elements of Latin America's military heritage of political
activism.
