In the commitment to freedom and independence, the peoples of this hemisphere are one. In this profound sense we are all Americans. Our principles are rooted in self-government and non-intervention.
--President Ronald Reagan, February 24, 1982
I spent 33 years and four months in active service as a member of the ...Marine Corps.... And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business...Thus I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank to collect revenues in...I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909 to 1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras 'right' for American fruit companies in 1903.
--Major General Smedley D. Butler, writing in 1935
The following is a list of U.S. military interventions in Central America and the Caribbean from 1898 to 1965. Most were undertaken to protect U.S. property and business interests during times of political upheaval or instability. The list does not include the several U.S. incursions into Mexico during the same period.
1898-1902 Cuba. Military occupation following the Spanish-American War.
1898 Nicaragua. To protect American lives and property at San Juan del Sur.
1899 Nicaragua. To protect U.S. interests during an insurrection.
1901 Colombia (State of Panama). To protect U.S. property during revolutionary disturbances.
1902 Colombia (State of Panama). To keep railroad lines open across the isthmus.
1903 Honduras. To protect the U.S. consulate and shipping facilities during revolutionary activity.
1903 Dominican Republic. To protect U.S. interests in Santo Domingo during a revolutionary outbreak.
1903-1914 Panama. To protect U.S. interests during U.S.-engineered revolution for independence from Colombia and the building of the Canal.
1904 Dominican Republic. To protect U.S. interests during revolutionary fighting.
1905 Honduras. Marines landed at Puerto Cortez.
1906-1909 Cuba. To restore order after revolutionary activity.
1907 Honduras. To protect U.S. interests during a war between Honduras and Nicaragua.
1910 Nicaragua. On three occasions during a civil war.
1911 Honduras. To protect U.S. interests during a civil war.
1912 Honduras. To prevent government seizure of a U.S.-owned railroad.
1912 Panama. To supervise elections outside the Canal Zone.
1912 Cuba. To protect U.S. interests in the province of Oriente and Havana.
1912-1925 Nicaragua. To protect U.S. interests during an attempted revolution and to maintain stability afterwards.
1914 Haiti. To protect U.S. citizens during unrest.
1914 Dominican Republic. Gunships deployed during a revolutionary movement.
1915-1934 Haiti. To maintain order during a period of chronic insurrection.
1916-1924 Dominican Republic. To maintain order during a period of chronic insurrection.
1917-1923 Cuba. To protect U.S. interests during an insurrection and to maintain order afterwards.
1919 Honduras. To maintain order during an attempted revolution.
1920 Guatemala. To protect U.S. interests during fighting between unionists and the government of Guatemala.
1921 Panama-Costa Rica. U.S. naval squadron stationed on both sides of the isthmus to prevent a boundary war.
1924 Honduras. To protect U.S. interests during election hostilities.
1925 Honduras. To protect foreigners during political upheaval.
1926-1933 Nicaragua. To suppress revolutionary activities led by Augusto Sandino after a military coup. Occupation ended with the installation of Anastasio Somoza as president.
1932 El Salvador. U.S. warships stand by offshore during a peasant rebellion and subsequent massacre of 30,000 peasants.
1933 Cuba. Naval forces deployed during a revolution. No landing was made.
1954 Guatemala. Military coup planned, organized and financed by U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
1961 Cuba. Bay of Pigs invasion planned, organized, and financed by CIA.
1965 Dominican Republic. 20,000 troops landed to suppress a rebellion.
The above list was compiled from Empire As a Way of Life, by William Appleman Williams. Oxford University Press, 1980; Under the Eagle, by Jenny Pearce. Latin American Bureau. 1981; and A People's History of the United States. By Howard Zinn. Harper and Row, 1980.
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