James 1

Tyler James
Dr. Cromwell
His 345
Question 1
May 1, 2015
Intervention in the American Mediterranean
In the late 19th century and early 20th century United States intervention in the Caribbean
was at an all-time high. The United States saw this intervention as a means to boast its own
agenda. Examples of these various interventions range from small political or economic
involvement, up to full scale military invasions, just to name a few. There are many reasons why
the United States felt intervention was necessary, including: overthrowing communist parties and
dictators, to economic gain. Through this involvement, the United States succeeded in
aggravating many countries, which in return complicated many relationships that were so close
to home. These interventions did not come without resistance. If these Caribbean islands could
not fight back own their own, they found a way such as Cuba did with the help of the Soviet
Union during the height of the Cold War. The term American Mediterranean comes from the idea
that America controlled all of the islands surrounding the Caribbean. In this Mediterranean,
the United States managed to manipulate their way into intervening in the political, economic
and militaristic scene of many Caribbean islands. The reason behind this intervention came under
the ideology of creating stability for both the nations of the Caribbean and United State interests.
Two Strategies the United States used in the Caribbean were Dollar Diplomacy and
Gunboat Diplomacy. The idea behind Dollar Diplomacy is that the United States could use their
power and money, to influence and control the many islands of the Caribbean. A great example

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of this is the Roosevelt Corollary, which in summary, stated that the United States had the right
to intervene with debts of the Caribbean islands. Basically making the United States a middle
man between these islands and their debt collectors, which in many instances was the country
where the Caribbean nation broke free from. Although the U.S. claims this was for economic
reasons, it was a militaristic ploy to lock up the Caribbean from foreign nations. Which
introduces the next policy that the U.S. implemented, Gunboat Diplomacy. In Gunboat
Diplomacy, the U.S. strong-armed its way into Caribbean islands by sending troops and military
personal to make sure these countries were paying their debts, or in order to scare them into
paying. (Lecture Notes)
The United States had many economical reasons to intervene in the Caribbean, however,
sugar was possibly the most financially beneficial to the Americans and thus gained a majority of
its attention. There were three main territories the U.S. involved itself in for a bulk of the sugar
production, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. By the end of World War I, U.S.
Companies owned more than half of the sugar-producing capacity of Cuba, about 80% of that of
the Dominican Republic, and about 55% of that of Puerto Rico. (Palmie & Scarano, 438) By
this time many advancements had been made in the producing and transportation of sugar.
Railroads and ships could transport raw materials to large mills, so that many small farmers no
longer had to refine the sugar. (Palmie & Scarano 436) To boast what was called the American
Sugar Kingdom, the U.S. used several economic tactics in the Caribbean. The United States
granted free trade to Puerto Rican sugar in 1900, and soon thereafter lowered the tariff on Cuban
sugar to 80% of the rate applied to products from other countries. (Palmie & Scarano 436) Even
though the U.S. was pushing their own agenda first, they did manage to help some of the native
Caribbeans through the tariffs and investment into the Sugar market. Native Capitalists,

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especially in Puerto Rico and Cuba benefitted as well from U.S. tariff policies and investments.
(Palmie & Scarano, 436) These investments kept people working and helped to stimulate the
economies. America pursued this type of intervention for mainly financial reasons. The U.S. was
making huge quantities of money and capital out of the Caribbean, and as always the U.S.
wanted to have an eye on its neighbors so close to home.
Political Intervention tended to align with the same goals of both the militaristic and
economic ideals of United States intervention, in that it tended to be in the favor of the
Americans. The U.S. intervened in the form of legislature such as the Platt Amendment in Cuba.
The Platt amendment which was put into effect from 1902-1934 and stated that the U.S. could
intervene in Cuba anytime it saw fit. (Lecture Notes) Whether that be signing new legislature
into effect, the choosing of government officials, or military assistance/ intrusion. The U.S.
implemented this amendment so that they could have control in Cuba following its freedom from
Spain. Controlling Cuba meant a lot to the U.S. considering it was so profitable in the Sugar
Industry and for its strategic placement so close to Florida.
The third and slightly more compelling of the three types of intervention the United
States used was the military presence throughout the Caribbean. The U.S. military was spread
across the Caribbean in the early 20th Century, however, the presence in Cuba seemed to be more
significant than others. Cuban intervention is interesting because it led to a long hatred of
America by the Cubans, which resulted in problems during the Cold War. It began with the Platt
Amendment which was discussed earlier, and then with the Bay of Pigs. The Bay of Pigs was a
military invasion by the U.S. to try and assassinate Fidel Castro and over throw his military
government. In the graphical novel, Cuba My Revolution, Sonya, a military nurse is helping
soldiers who have been injured during the Bay of Pigs and describes the scene of a battle that has

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just taken place at a school, The school is full of dead bodies. Use them as your pillows.
Mosquitoes swirl in the air, and the smell of blood and defecation is suffocating. No one asks
questions. (Lockpez, II) This shows just how horrifying this conflict was, soldiers were having
to use their brothers and sisters as pillows to sleep on at night. All of this because the U.S.
wanted a change of government in Cuba, they felt threatened by communism being so close to
the mainland. In this quote, Fidel Castro comments on the military intervention used by the U.S.
and explains his beliefs on the subject, North American Imperialisms declared policy of
sending soldiers to fight against the revolutionary movement of any country in Latin America,
that is to kill workers, students, Latin American men and women, has no other objective than the
continued maintenance of its monopolistic interests and the privileges of the traitorous
oligarchies which supports it. (Castro, 9) Although the U.S. may not have planned to
intentionally kill innocent people as Castro points out, the U.S. did threaten/ imprison anyone
who they believed to be aligned with communism. Throughout the 19th and 20th century the U.S.
used military invention in Cuba multiple times, beginning with the Spanish-American War all the
way up to the Cold War. The reason for American intervention is so the U.S. can control their
American Mediterranean. If the U.S. has control over all of the Caribbean then they do not
need to worry about invasion from other nations.
Problems caused from the interventions of the U.S. are numerous. The U.S. stripped
autonomy from these nations by electing officials and running the governments for them. The
U.S. never had the best intentions for these nations, it just wanted to maximize its own agenda
while minimizing its loss of life and finances. Without a doubt the largest problem faced was the
threat from the Soviet Union occupying Cuba in the Cold War. With two of the largest Super
Powers pointing nuclear weapons at each other, it certainly complicated historical relationship

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between not only the two Super Powers, but also Cuba as well. As we can see today Cuba and
America are still on uneasy terms just as the article, The October Crisis, points out, The primary
lesson Cube drew, then, was that neither superpower could be trusted. It viewed U.S. guarantees
as ploys and Soviet promises as hollow. Both countries ignored Cuba during the crisis.
(Davidson & Taylor, 31) The interventions mixed with the October Crisis and Bay of Pigs all
contributed to the hatred that has lasted for so many years between The United States and Cuba.
Resistance was common in most Caribbean territories that the U.S. intervened in.
Whether that be resistance to a government or government official being put in office, a piece of
legislature being implemented, or military action. Caribbean nations resisted the American Sugar
Kingdom because the people were tired of the sugar industry. The people of the Caribbean had
not long ago been slaves to this very system and while many did resist, other had to work to
survive. Others resisted in the form of violence, burning and destroying sugar refining facilities
and fields. Political resistance came in the form of protests and even resistance fighters. Castro
and his people did not like the leaders the U.S. supported so they started a revolution. Castro
describes how he believes all 200 million Latin Americans should rise against the U.S. in unity,
No nation in Latin America is weak-because each forms part of a family of 200 million
brothers, who suffer the same miseries, who harbor the same sentiments, who have the same
enemy, who dream about the same better future and who count upon the solidarity of all honest
men and women throughout the world. (Castro, 19) Castro believes that the Caribbean
community as a whole should write their own destiny, and not abide by what the U.S. has
planned for them. This hatred for America is fueled from years of economic, political, and
military intervention in Cuba.

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U.S. intervention has been a stable part of the American government since its existence.
There is no questioning the significance of these interventions into building the Caribbean as
well as the U.S. into what they have become today. Through the use of its heavy hand, the United
States, was able to coerce and obtain its own economic, political, and military agendas. Although
many of its endeavors were successful such as maintaining a successful sugar production, it was
not as successful in others, such as the Bay of Pigs assassination attempt. While the U.S.
succeeded in burning bridges with many counties it also gained strong ties with nations such as
Puerto Rico, which still remains a territory of the U.S. today. The belief behind each involvement
was that the United States had the best interests for the intervened country while also creating
stability for itself. However, more often than not the U.S. came out with the better deal, and left
angry Caribbean nations in its wake.

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Works Cited
Fidel Castro, The Second Declaration of Havana.
Inverna Lockpez - Dean Haspiel - Jose Villarrubia - Pat Brosseau - DC Comics/Vertigo, Cuba
My Revolution. 2010
James Blight and Philip Brenner, Sad and Luminous Days: Cubas Secret Struggle with the
Super Powers after the Missile Crisis (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002), 1-32.
Scarano, Palmie. "Chapter 29." The Caribbean- A History of the Region and Its People. By Cesar
J. Ayala. 433-44. Print.