Atlas of Hispanic-American History

Hispanic Americans also admired

Roosevelt for his Good Neighbor Policy

toward Latin America. Roosevelt’s pred-

ecessor, Herbert Hoover, had initiated

the policy by preparing the way for

the removal of U.S. Marines from

Nicaragua and Haiti, both of which had

been occupied since the 1910s; the with-

drawals were completed, respectively,

in 1933 and 1934. But Roosevelt went

further, giving the policy its name,

“Good Neighbor,” and making clear

that the United States would no longer

intervene militarily in Latin American

affairs to suppress insurrections or pro-

tect private American business inter-

ests. In accordance with this policy, the

hated Platt Amendment of 1901, which

had compromised Cuban independence,

was abrogated in 1934. When Mexico

expropriated U.S. oil company proper-

ties in 1938, the United States did not

go to war but peacefully worked out a

compensation agreement. Roosevelt

showed his personal respect for Latin

Americans by touring the Caribbean in

1934 and becoming, in 1936, the first

U.S. president to travel to South

America. At least for a time, the era of

Theodore Roosevelt’s “Roosevelt

Corollary” was over.

By formalizing the Good Neighbor

Policy, Franklin Roosevelt acted in the

best interests of the United States. With

the Great Depression squeezing govern-

ment revenues, the country could ill

afford to keep mounting military expedi-

tions all over the hemisphere. The har-

vest of good relations would pay off

during World War II, when the United

States enjoyed the close cooperation of

Mexico and other Hispanic-American

countries on the Allied side.

154 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY

Mexican-American Population, 1940

In keeping with the Roosevelt

administration’s Good Neighbor Policy

with Latin America, First Lady Eleanor

Roosevelt paid a goodwill visit to the

Dominican Republic in 1934. The first

lady is at left, with President Rafael

Trujillo (right), and Mrs Trujillo (center).

(National Archives)