Foreign PolicyLatin America

• Roosevelt Corollary (added to Monroe Doctrine) stay out of Latin America – use force to protect economic interest

Monroe Doctrine• “Big Stick Diplomacy”• Dollar Diplomacy-

replaced European loans with US loans

Latin American Interests

• Missionary Diplomacy• Moral responsibility to

deny LA gov’t we viewed as oppressive, undemocratic, or hostile to US interest

• Pressure to establish democracies

1. Porifirio Diaz- Maintained a firm grasp over power in Mexico

between 1877-1880 & 1884-1911

1. The Porfiriato

Diaz consolidated power in Mexico redistributed it from the provinces to the central government.

With the stability he brought by ruling Mexico with a stiff hand came foreign investment primarily from the US

Railroads were constructed, the oil industry was developed, even Hollywood invested in Mexico

However, wealth was not shared by the masses and much discontent existed.

1. The Porfiriato

Diaz was a captain of the revolutionary forces in the War of Reform in which Mexican forces overthrew the government of Emperor Maximilian.Diaz went on to become a mayor of the small provincial capital city of Oaxaca before being appointed President of Mexico before being elected in 1877.The death of Benito Juarez in 1872 prompted his ambition.

7. Sparks of the Mexican Revolution

Diaz decide that Mexico was ready to return to democracy and called for elections in 1910. Francisco Madero, the owner of a large estancia and a US educated aristocrat who openly supported a new constitution and democratic change challenged Diaz.Diaz had Madero imprisoned in Monterrey for the election

8. Plan de San Luis Potosi

After being released from prison Madero went into exile in the United States where he wrote the Plan de San LuisThe Plan basically claimed that Diaz was not the legitimate leader of Mexico and that the election had been a fraud.Upon returning to Mexico Madero claimed he was the President Pro-Temp until new elections could be held.As President Pro-Temp Madero claimed that he would return all confiscated land to peasants and ensure universal male suffrage.

Francisco Madero

9. The Revolution Begins

Madero enlisted Pancho Villa and Pascual Orzoco to join the revolution. Soon all hell broke loose and different groups throughout Mexico joined the revolution by overthrowing local leadersOne prominent revolutionary leader, Emiliano Zapata, led peasants in Morelos with the promise to return to them land and water rights.Within 6 month the Diaz regime fell and Diaz exiled himself to France

Photos of the Revolution- Peasant soldiers on the left and Pancho

Villa on the right