Dissertation

The United States and Ecuador: Conflict and convergence, 1830-1946

Lauderbaugh, George Monroe

1997

Overview

Scholars have largely ignored the diplomatic relationship between the United States and Ecuador, and there has been no comprehensive study of the issues and problems that have confronted the two nations. Ecuador has often been dismissed by U.S. historians writing on Latin America as being unimportant to U.S. interests in the region. This dissertation examines the U.S. and Ecuadorian relationship between 1830-1946 and concludes that the two nations had important security, commercial, and development ties that on the whole resulted in a convergence of objectives that superseded any conflicts. Security was the most important aspect of the relationship for both nations. Ecuador sought assistance from the United States to thwart European intervention and for guarantees of its territory from encroachment by Peru. In 1936 the United States attempted to mediate the Ecuador border dispute with Peru. When negotiations failed and war broke out in 1941, the United States was a key participant in cease fire arrangements. In January 1941 the United States became a guarantor of the Rio Protocol, a controversial agreement that nevertheless provided a U.S. guarantee of Ecuador's territory, although the territory proved to be much smaller than Ecuadorian nationalists envisioned. Security interests of the United States in Ecuador intensified with the building of the Panama Canal (1904-1914) and centered on the sanitation of Guayaquil from tropical disease and defense of the canal from attack. The most significant example of U.S.-Ecuadorian cooperation occurred in 1942 when Ecuador permitted the United States to build military bases on its Pacific coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Commercial relations were not a source of significant conflict in this period due to the relatively small size of U.S. investment in Ecuador. The largest U.S. enterprise was the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company, but this company did not dominate Ecuador's economy and a dependent relationship did not develop. Ecuador sought development assistance from the United States. Assistance was provided first by U.S. private efforts, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Kemmerer economic mission, and missionary radio station HCJB. After 1939 direct aid from the United States was important to Ecuador's development in agriculture, transportation, and industry.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: American history / Latin American history
• ISBN: 059173219X, 9780591732191