3. Yankee Imperialism in Nicaragua

Variedades, Lima, 10 November 1928

Even those who ignore the events and spirit of U.S. policy in Central America can certainly take into consideration the reasons that Mr. Kellogg¹ seeks to justify the U.S. troop invasion of Nicaraguan territory. But those who remember the development of this policy over the last twenty or twenty-five years are no doubt aware of the absolute consistency of this armed intervention in the domestic events of Nicaragua and its expansionist purpose.

For many years the United States has had its eyes on Nicaragua. It has had several opportunities under similar pretexts to take control of its formal autonomy.

When President Zelaya² governed Nicaragua, Roosevelt, the "big game hunter," notified the country of the United States‘s intent to convert the San Juan River into an inter-oceanic canal, and to establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. But this plan with its stated imperialist intentions naturally met active resistance in Nicaragua. President Zelaya was unable to make any concessions to the U.S. government in this regard. The United States did not gain anything from this Nicaraguan political leader but a friendship treaty. Subsequently, U.S. agents began the task of organizing riots with the goal of creating, under the protection of Yankee guns, a government obedient to northern imperialism.

This objective was definitively achieved with the formation of Adolfo Díaz‘s government, which was an unconditional servant of Yankee capitalism.³ Then as now, American troops were involved in the defense of this regime, which was vigorously repudiated by public sentiment such that its stability was seriously threatened. And the Díaz government gave the United States the treaty it so desperately wanted.

Chamorro, the foreign minister who signed the treaty, inherited power.⁴ U.S. interests remained well entrenched in Nicaragua for several years. But popular sentiment continued to ferment, and eventually threw out this agent of U.S. imperialism. Since then, the United States, or rather its government, has felt the need to intervene again in Nicaragua. North American guns are now trying to impose on these people the presidency of Adolfo Díaz. Because of the resignation of the president, Sacasa, the legal vice president, represents the constitution and the Nicaraguan vote.⁵

It is very easy for the American press to depict the people of Central America in perpetual revolutionary agitation. It is indeed much harder to hide from worldview the principal participation of the Yankees in this unrest. The United States is interested in maintaining a divided and conflictive Central America. The necessary confederation of the small republics in Central America finds in the United States its greatest enemy. Yankee mechanisms were responsible for disrupting attempts six years ago to create a confederation. Nicaragua, whose government at that point was completely subjugated to U.S. policy, was at the heart of the imperialist maneuvers against the free union of the Central American states.

The emphasis on American expansionism at the moment is perfectly understandable. Europe is in a period of "capitalist stabilization." It is in the process of reorganizing its ruined empire in Africa, Asia, etc. Moreover, because of the natural momentum of its industrial and financial development, the United States is pushing its dominance over markets, roads, and centers of raw materials. If North American capitalism cannot expand its domain it will inevitably enter into a period of crisis. The United States already suffers the consequences of a plethora of gold and industrial and agricultural overproduction. Its banking and other industries have an urgent need to find larger markets. The awakening of China, which after years of moral collapse is strongly reacting against foreign domination, threatens one of the areas where U.S. imperialism gradually struggles to dislodge British and Japanese imperialism. The United States needs more than ever to turn to the Latin American continent where the [First World] War has facilitated undermining England‘s previously omnipotent influence.

These factors impede Latin Americans from considering the Nicaraguan conflict as a conflict foreign to its interests. Solidarity with Nicaragua, as represented and defended by the constitutional Sacasa government, is therefore unreservedly expressed.

Even more so than the excesses of U.S. imperialism, the continent‘s opinion condemns the betrayals of Central American local bosses who are at its service.

Notes

1. Frank Kellogg (December 22, 1856–December 21, 1937) was the U.S. secretary of state. ↩
2. José Santos Zelaya (November 1, 1853–May 17, 1919) was the president of Nicaragua from 1893 until a United States–backed coup overthrew him in 1909. ↩
3. Adolfo Díaz (1875–1964) was president of Nicaragua after Zelaya‘s removal. ↩
4. Emiliano Chamorro (1871–1966) was a conservative politician who as Nicaragua‘s minister to the United States negotiated the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty in 1914 that granted the United States the rights to construct a canal across the country. ↩
5. Juan Bautista Sacasa (1874–1946) was a liberal politician and subsequent president of Nicaragua (1933–1936) after the withdrawal of the United States Marines in 1932. ↩