Commonwealth and Foreign
FASCISM AND TILE MONROE DOCTRINE
By WILBUR BURTON
[Giving evidence on Monday before the Naval Committee of Congress, Admiral Leahy, Chief of Naval Operations in the United States, declared that nothing stood in the way of the possible seizure or exploitation of the Republics of Central and South America except the Monroe Doctrine, backed by the ?banal strength of the United States.] THE traditional type of government in Latin America is that of a "strong man" backed primarily by the army, but usually also by the land-owning oligarchy. This technique of statecraft was admirably summed up last October by Minister of War Enriquez in Ecuador, when he ousted President Paez : "By resolution of the armed forces I assume supreme command of the Republic." Only three of the Latin American so-called republics ever definitely developed any orderly democratic processes that continued over a substantial period of time : Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. Even so, Argentina has had one change of government by coup d'itat in the past decade, while the present Vargas regime in Brazil started with a coup d'etat, and has now proclaimed itself an outright " cor- porative " dictatorship. In Mexico, there have been several rebellions but no revolution since 1920, and presidents have been selected by orderly elections—which, however, have been largely farces from a democratic viewpoint, although there can be no doubt that the present incumbent, President Cardenas, is so far a popular national leader.
In both Washington and Pan-American assemblies, of course, the polite fiction has always been maintained that the Latin American countries were bona-fide republics, except— to be sure—in the days when Brazil was an avowed monarchy. The essential, important point, however, especially from the standpoint of the United States, was that whatever the exact form of government prevailing at any given time in a Latin American land, it was both indigenous and without any ties outside the Americas. Brazilian monarchy, for example, was entirely satisfactory to Washington so long as it was not a part of Mettemich's Holy Alliance for defence and extension of the monarchical system—a point of view that, very signifi- cantly, was shared by Rio de Janeiro in the days of Dom Pedro. Washington policy in this connexion was forcibly and forth- rightly summarised in the historical Monroe Doctrine proclaimed on December 2nd, 1823, and which stated inter alia that the United States would consider any attempt on the part of European nations "to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety."
At the time when the Latin American countries were struggling for independence from Spain (or, in the case of Brazil from Portugal), this part of the doctrine was eminently agreeable to them ; but as various U.S. adminis- trations invoked the instrument for intervention and a somewhat imperious Argentina sought to appoint herself the leader of Spanish America, nationalistic politicians made a bete-noir of the manifesto and reiteratingly damned it as a weapon of Washington imperialism. In consequence, presumably, the present Roosevelt administration has made no mention of the Monroe Doctrine, but has emphasised a "good neighbour" policy with concurrent attempts at alliance of the American " republics " in defence and maintenance of both independence and democracy. Throughout Spanish America this has been enthusiastically interpreted as abandonment of the Monroe Doctrine—and a new era when every Latin American country can do as it pleases without interference from Washington. In Brazil, however—which is Portuguese in origin and not always friendly with Argentina—I was assured only a few months ago by Foreign Minister Brandio that his government "regarded President Roosevelt's good neighbour policy as an extension of the Monroe Doctrine rather than a substitute for it."
But although Senhor Branddo is still Foreign Minister of Brazil, much has happened there since he made that statement. Operating under an officially manufactured "communist menace " in co-operation with the Nazi-inspired Integralistas that I sketched in this place last September loth, President Vargas has established a "corporative state" with himself as dictator—apparently for life if possible. This move imme- diately followed the conclusion of the German-Japanese- Italian " anti-communist " pact, and most probably—in view of the ever increasing Nazi influence in Brazil—directly connected therewith. While the new Brazilian regime is not pure Fascism, nor will there probably be any open alliance
with the Euro-Asiatic Fascist front, there are several facts that indicate definite integration on the Tokyo-Rome-Berlin axis : Vargas, though not an Integralista, was in negotiation with the party for several months before his coup, and just before it he ostentatiously reviewed a parade of 30,000 o.
its cohorts in Rio de Janeiro ; all parties excepting the Inte- gralistas have now been dissolved, and they have publicly abandoned political activities (" since political parties are no longer necessary,") but will continue" civic, moral and physical education "—which means they will do the party strong-arm work of every Fascist State ; and finally, German economic political and cultural penetration is now proceeding without any opposition, including the organisation of the half million or so Germans in the country into a Nazi Party that is working toward the same end as Vargas and the Integralistas, if not in co-operation with them.
So Brazil, by far the largest of the Latin American countries, has tacitly if not outrightly broken away from both the Monroe Doctrine and the "good neighbour" policy. Meanwhile, the trend towards Fascism is increasingly pronounced through-. out most of Latin America. Fascist trappings naturally appeal to the traditional "strong men" dictators ; Franco in Paraguay, who was overthrown a few months ago by another dictator, was the first to imitate Hitler openly and consciously, and he was followed by the four reigning Central American dictators. The latter, in addition, started flirtation with the Euro-Asiatic dictatorial countries ; El Salvador was the first nation in the world outside Japan to recognise Manchukuo and Jorge Ubico of Guatemala—who has frequently described President Roosevelt as "a dangerous communist "—once planned an alliance with Italy, but was restrained by his aides.
The Fascist surge has been greatly accentuated by events in Spain, which for clear historical reasons have especially aroused Spanish America. Liberal and Labour groups, which have powerful organisations in Uruguay, Argentina and Mexico, naturally favour the republican side, but the dominant economic groups in all Latin American lands except- ing Mexico (where the government alone is economically dominant at present) are pro-Franco. And except in Mexico and Colombia, the dominant political groups are also pro- Franco. The pro-Franco attitude of the Argentine and Uruguayan Governments has produced serious tension between them and the vocal masses, with the result that the victory of the government nominee for president in the September elections in Argentina has been denounced by the Left as fraudulent, while the next election in Uruguay is viewed with apprehension. Certainly the Argentine election strengthened the pro-Fascist elements there, and there is a growing Fascist movement in Uruguay.
In the anti-Franco countries—Colombia and Mexico—the Fascist danger is by no means non-existent, but it is more pronounced by way of the Left than the Right, especially in Mexico. That is to say, Fascism may develop with the language of Marx instead of that of Mussolini ; the con- gressional bloc of the ruling Mexican National Revolutionary Party, for example, recently sponsored a Bill that would have the effect of virtually establishing a corporative State, but the word employed was "co-operative."
However, from both the United States and the international viewpoint, Colombia and Mexico are so far definitely removed from the Rome-Tokyo-Berlin axis, and both are also anti- Moscow. On the other hand, Brazil has all but formally joined the international Fascist front, while increasing imitation of Fascist governmental technique and support of Franco in most of the rest of Latin America tends toward growing affinity with it. And this, it seems to me, poses for Washington
—and the remaining democratic world—a problem dangerously similar to that raised by Metternich's Holy Alliance more than a century ago.
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