Latin America In The 19th Century

Until the end of the nineteenth century, United States had special relationships mainly with Mexico and Cuba—of course they interacted with other Latin American countries, but it was minimal compared to their relationship with Mexico and Cuba and mostly was concerning trade. The reason for this was the fact that Latin America, apart from Cuba and Mexico, was mainly politically and economically tied to Great Britain. When Latin America became independent in the 1820s, the United States and Great Britain created the Monroe Doctrine in order to prevent the establishment of other European colonies in Latin America. The annexation of Texas from Mexico (which led to the purchase of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and other areas) Spanish-American …show more content…
China has been investing in Latin America’s energy sector because they have been trying to diversify their imports away from the Middle East. China gains Raw materials, new markets to produce and sell low-end goods and Latin America gets to receive investments that allow for the building of critical infrastructure, their natural resource export value increases and it also takes a jab and challenges America’s Economic dominance in the region. Russia has made agreements with Latin America to build a nuclear reactor in Argentina, and they have also made energy deals with Venezuela and Cuba. This increase in BRICS influence over Latin America should concern the US, since Latin American countries are our neighbors and they are so close to us we can’t afford to have bad or weak relations, and we definitely can’t afford to have other countries who we are not really compatible with gain strong influence in countries so close to home— it is dangerous and it weakens our position; for example, in 2000 the US was responsible for 43 percent of foreign direct investment in Latin America, but by 2010 that share dropped to 17