Review: A World Safe For Capitalism
The United States’ presence in the Caribbean was very palpable in the late 19th century, and after a quick victory during the Spanish-American War over the Spaniards, the United States was the sole hegemon within the New World. After ousting the Spanish from the region, the complete annexation of the Caribbean was completed in less than a decade. This included Puerto Rico, Cuba and in 1905 the Dominican Republic (all Spanish territories at one point). In January of 1905 American’s were notified that U.S. diplomats would be taking over Dominican “custom houses”. These “custom houses” generated nearly all of the revenue that the small republic could conjure up. The officials left the Dominican’s to allocate a measly 45% of their total revenue for domestic projects and expenditures. The other 55% would be expropriated to pay the country’s creditors. This consisted of European and American investors who had a vested interest in doing as they pleased with Dominican finances. The utter takeover of the country’s fiscal prospects was extolled as “one of the momentous steps in the history of American international relations” (pg. 2).
The SDIC (or San Domingo Improvement Company, a New York based firm) had taken over the foreign Debt of the Dominican Republic in 1893. Smith Weed, the president of the firm, maintained friendships with people at the highest levels government, which included but was not limited to Grover Cleveland. The firm felt the insatiable desire to wrest control of Dominican Finances from the Europeans. Between 1893 through 1899 the firm had a virtual monopoly over said finances and this acquisition of power and capital...
... middle of paper ...
...n an imperial project that at one point involved the alliance of private and public interests, and when there was a deviation in interest, one party acted accordingly. This typifies the majority of the policies enacted (as mentioned above) all throughout the twentieth century. What came about after our marine occupation from 1916-1924 was the rise of Rafael Trujillo, enabling a brutal despot to rule for over thirty years. “Only at the end of the twentieth century, after the receiverships, occupations, and dictatorships were over, did Dominicans themselves begin to make progress” (pg. 161). This self-determination was what was needed to begin with in order for the island to preserve itself and that idea was continually transgressed. This is indicative of how nefarious and totalitarian “liberal internationalism” can be as an international mode of governance.
All throughout the 20th century we can observe the marked presence of totalitarian regimes and governments in Latin America. Countries like Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic all suffered under the merciless rule of dictators and military leaders. Yet the latter country, the Dominican Republic, experienced a unique variation of these popular dictatorships, one that in the eyes of the world of those times was great, but in the eyes of the Dominicans, was nothing short of deadly.
In the early 1930’s, the Dominican Republic elected a new president by the name of Rafael Trujillo. Rafael Trujillo was a ruthless and selfish dictator even before he won the election. To win the election, he used his connections to kill supporters of the opposing candidates. Rafael Trujillo used his powers to oppress and murder masses of people (2 ”Rafael Trujillo”). Even though he was initially seen as a beneficial leader, Rafael Trujillo was proven to be an evil dictator.
In 1898, three big events got in the way of any peaceful resolution in Cuba. The New York Journal received a letter from the Spanish minister in Washington, Enrique Dupuy de Lo...
Crassweller, Robert D. Trujillo: The life and times of a Caribbean dictator. New York: Macmillan.1966.
Long before our involvement, the Cubans had been leading revolts and revolutions against Spain. The Spanish empire considered Cuba to be its jewel, not only for its beauty but also for its economics. Cuba’s main source of income was from its expansive sugar plantations that greatly contributed to its wealth (more so to the Spanish Empires wealth). Ironically, even due to the high regard to Cuba, it was neglected and oppressed, as the Spanish Empire began its decline in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Empire was falling due to it slowly loosing its control over its territories, closer to the US then to Spain, because of a lack of industrializing. The Spanish would claim ownership, but never contribute back to their land. This opened the door for what is known as the 10-year war and the struggle for Cuban Independence. The United States never got directly involved, but it sympathized greatly with the Cuban’s cause, for ...
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina reigned over the Dominican Republic in a dictatorship, extending over thirty years. He is known as having been the “most ruthless dictator in Latin America.” However, there is another side to the story. Trujillo was the third son of a humble sheep herder and worked as a sugar plantation guard in his adolescent years. He enlisted in the United States Marines Corp during the U.S.’s occupation in the Dominican Republic. He built himself up to National Commander and claimed presidency in 1930. He was a man known to be surrounded by “a surfeit of booze, women, wealth, power, and enemies.” Until his final years, he was admired by the Dominican people and seen as a demi-god and savior. During his first prosperous years
...ependence were Francisco del Rosario Sanchez and Ramon Matias Mella who along with Duarte, are known as the forefathers of the Dominican Republic. La Trinitaria’s manifesto in favor of independence was released on January 16, 1844, thus the fight for independence began. Due to the work of La Trinitaria, many battles and much carnage, the Dominican Republic was born on February 27, 1844, claiming independence from Haiti with a declaration at the Puerta del Conde. Small battles with the Haitian army continued across the island. As continued proof of the Hispanic ideology held by Dominicans, Pedro Santana, first president of the Dominican Republic, pledged allegiance to the Spanish crown, and in 1861annexed the Dominican Republic to Spain
Today I bring to your forefront of thought, the island of Hispaniola. This island is the namesake for the two countries who run the land, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both nations hail from a joint introduction into the world market and post-European colonization, but as time progressed, each one had a different outlook to the world stage. The present day Dominican Republic and Haiti are worlds apart on an island which keeps them together. Their culture is separated by the colonial residuals that lay imbedded into their communities. They are on different sides of the spectrum of structural growth due to the resulting outcomes from decades of political ruling and policy making. On one side we have the second independent state of the Americas,
For most of its history, Puerto Rico has been controlled by an outside power, and its people oppressed. While Puerto Rico is currently a U.S. territory, Spanish colonialism has had a significant impact on the island’s development and identity. The history of the island itself is proof of this fact, demonstrating each step Puerto Rico took to reach its current state. By examining the stages of Spanish control that Puerto Rico experienced, we can determine how each stage affected the structure and identity of Puerto Rico.
The Center for Strategic Studies. Dominican Action—1965: Intervention or Cooperation?. Washington, D.C.: The Center for Strategic Studies, 1966.
The Haitian revolution had tremendous repercussions in the social, political and economic arenas of the world, but especially for the relationship with the neighboring nation of the Dominican Republic. In order to understand the development of the Dominican-Haitian relationship after the Haitian revolution one must examine how the two colonies of Hispanola dealt with each other before it. Throughout history there has been constant stress between the interactions of these nations, yet there is no easy explanation for what has caused it. In effect, it has been an accumulation of events which has allowed for the present relationship to evolve.
... Housing for the D.R. Fellow nations sought to believe that the U.s would repeat the actions with the D.R that they took almost 50 years the events of the Dominican revolution. The U.S and the Dominican Republic share a good relationship and today with a strong democracy the small island in the Caribbean has well imitated the United States and gain a strong independence.
Immediately following the war with Spain, the United States had both the political will to pursue imperial policies and the geopolitical circumstances conducive to doing so. But the way in which these policies would manifest was an open question; was the impulse to actively remake the world in America’s Anglo-Saxon image justified? Hence, there were several models of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Samoa, the United States asserted unwavering political control. In Cuba, and later throughout most of the Caribbean basin, the economic and political domination of customarily sovereign governments became the policy. Ultimately, the United States was able to expand its territory
"Dominican Republic." Gale Encyclopedia of World History: Governments. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Student Resources in Context. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
However the US played a much larger role in Cuba’s past and present than the building of casinos and the introduction of the first taints of corruption. In the past, even before Batista, Americans were resented by Cubans because the Americans made a lot of Cuba’s decisions. Under Batista, 80% of Cuban imports came from the US, and the US controlled at least 50% of sugar, utilities, phones and railroads. If Cuba was a business in the stock markets, then the US would have been close to owning 50% of its shares. When combined with a long history of US-backe...