What is Pan-Americanism?
Pan-Americanism says that the countries of the Americas belong together. They share a New World history of breaking from European rule, and many of them are republics. Supporters want them to settle quarrels by talks and arbitration, trade more with each other, and stand together against outside threats. The idea has two sides that do not always agree. One is Latin American, the dream of a united region. The other is North American, a plan for hemispheric business and security. The tension between the two has run through its whole story.
Core beliefs
- The American republics share history, interests and some values.
- Disputes between them should be settled by law and arbitration, not war.
- Trade and investment across the hemisphere should grow.
- A threat to one country is a matter for all.
- Common institutions should support democracy and the rule of law.
- Each state's independence must be respected, and intervention avoided.
History
Simon Bolivar called the Congress of Panama in 1826 to bind the new Spanish American republics together, though few of its plans were carried out. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 had already warned Europe off the hemisphere. The movement in its modern form began when US Secretary of State James Blaine pushed for a conference of American states, which met in Washington in 1889 and 1890 and led to an office for trade information that later became the Pan-American Union. In 1933 Franklin Roosevelt announced the Good Neighbor policy, giving up a claim to intervene. A mutual defense treaty followed at Rio in 1947, and in 1948 the Organization of American States was founded at Bogota.
Variants
Bolivarian Pan-Americanism looks to unity among Latin American states, sometimes without the United States. The US-centered kind stresses commerce, investment and security under American leadership. A developmental kind appeared with Brazil's Operation Pan America in 1958, which asked for aid to fight underdevelopment, and with the Alliance for Progress that followed. A democratic strand wants the region to defend elections and human rights together.
Criticisms
Many Latin Americans argue that Pan-Americanism often covered up US power. They point to the Roosevelt Corollary of 1904 and to Marines sent to Caribbean countries, and to Cold War coups and interventions. The Cuban writer Jose Marti warned about American ambitions in the 1890s. The OAS suspended Cuba in 1962 yet was slow to react to some military coups. Other critics say that countries of such different size and wealth cannot be equal partners. Supporters answer that the institutions gave smaller states a voice they would not have had alone.
In practice
The movement left real institutions: the OAS, the Pan American Health Organization, the Inter-American Development Bank and a regional human rights court and commission. It also lent its name to the Pan-American Highway and to many sports and cultural events. Since the 2000s, some Latin American governments have formed regional groups that leave out the United States and Canada. On the 12 axes it scores moderately toward Cooperation on Foreign policy, toward Global on Trade and close to the middle on most other axes.