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Evaluate the effects of Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy in the Americas.
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Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy, initiated in 1933, aimed to improve U.S. relations with Latin American countries by promoting non-intervention and respect for sovereignty. Key actions included withdrawing U.S. troops from Haiti and Nicaragua, resolving disputes with Cuba and Mexico, and fostering cultural exchange through Hollywood. The policy improved diplomatic relations and regional cooperation until the Cold War prompted renewed U.S. interventionist strategies in Latin America.
Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the Good Neighbor Policy when he began his first term as president in 1933. His intention was to foster better relations with the countries of the Western Hemisphere in Central and South America. He alluded to the policy in his inaugural address on March 4, 1933:
In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.
At a conference of American states in Montevideo, Uruguay, in December 1933, Roosevelt's secretary of state, Cordell Hull, said: "No country has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another." With this doctrine in mind, the United States withdrew from its occupation of Haiti and Nicaragua. It also annulled an agreement that authorized intervention in Cuba and resolved a dispute with Mexico over compensation for oil assets. The United States Maritime Commission worked with Moore-McCormack Lines to operate a fleet of ocean liners and cargo ships for regular runs to major ports in South America.
Besides these efforts, FDR worked on improving relations with people of Latin American descent within the United States. He appointed Nelson Rockefeller as head of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. This organization's purpose was to eliminate existing stereotypes of Latin Americans. One of the ways it sought to do this was through Hollywood films. It encouraged film companies to hire Latin Americans and present Latin America favorably in movies. Hollywood luminaries that the organization sent to Latin America as goodwill ambassadors included Walt Disney, Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, and Orson Welles.
The Good Neighbor Policy lasted until the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, when the United States began to intervene once again in the governments of Latin America.
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