Colombia and the United States

Lynn Coleman Bradley

Description

This book will also be available in the following formats: e-book, audio book, and large-print paperback. Visit www.caravanbooks.org for details.A valuable addition to the New Studies in U.S. Foreign Relations SeriesWorld War II and the Cold War transformed U.S.-Colombian security relations. The republics first partnered to defend the Western Hemisphere during World War II, a wartime affiliation that promoted hemispheric solidarity, inter-American military readiness, and regional stability. After the war, Colombian and U.S. combat units fought together in Korea. A Colombian infantry battalion and frigate joined the U.S.-led United Nations Command in 1951; Colombian soldiers later served with the United Nations Emergency Force during the Suez Conflict (1956-1958). Soon thereafter, Colombian and American authorities began focusing on Colombian internal security problems, particularly issues associated with the domestic political, social, and religious convulsion known as la Violencia (1946-1958). In doing so, the two countries had formed the basis of the modern Colombian-American partnership.Placing the bilateral relationship in a global context, this military and diplomatic history examines the importance of ideology, material interests, and power in U.S.-Latin American relations. Historian Bradley Coleman demonstrates how the making of the Colombian-American alliance exemplified hemispheric interconnectedness, a condition of ever-growing importance in the twenty-first century.Employing available Colombian and U.S. archival sources, this book fills a gap in the literature on U.S. relations with less developed countries and provides new research on the origins an development of the U.S-Colombian alliance that will serve as an invaluable resource for scholars of U.S. and Latin American diplomacy.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• Diplomacy
• Military history
• International relations
• 20th century
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis
• Diplomatie (homonymie)
• Colombia

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 20 janvier 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631010361
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Colombia and the United States
NEW STUDIES IN U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS
Mary Ann Heiss, editor
The Birth of Development: How the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and World Health Organization Changed the World, 1945–1965
AMY L. S. STAPLES
Colombia and the United States: The Making of an Inter-American Alliance, 1939–1960
BRADLEY LYNN COLEMAN
Colombia and the United States
The Making of an Inter-American Alliance, 1939–1960

B RADLEY L YNN C OLEMAN
The Kent State University Press
Kent, Ohio
© 2008 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2007044972 ISBN 978-0-87338-926-6 Manufactured in the United States of America
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Coleman, Bradley Lynn, 1973– Colombia and the United States : the making of an inter-American alliance, 1939–1960 / Bradley Lynn Coleman. p.   cm. — (New studies in U.S. foreign relations) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-87338-926-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) ∞ 1. United States—Foreign relations—Colombia. 2. Colombia—Foreign relations—United States. 3. United States—Military relations—Colombia. 4. Colombia—Military relations—United States. I. Title. E 183.8. C 7 C 65 2008 327.730861—dc22      2007044972
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication data are available.
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Contents
Preface
Introduction: A Global History
Maps and Illustrations
1 Solidarity and Cooperation, 1939–1945
2 Old Problems, New Possibilities, 1945–1950
3 The Korean War and the Americas, 1950–1951
4 The Fighting Alliance, 1951–1953
5 Continuity and Change, 1953–1957
6 The Partnership Transformed, 1958–1960
Epilogue
Essay on Archival Research
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
In 1997 I decided to write a book about the Korean War, a comparative history of small-country United Nations (UN) military forces. At the University of Georgia, I planned a series of seminar papers, each covering a different UN member state. The sum of those essays, I thought, would form my doctoral dissertation, the first draft of my intended book. After some preliminary research, I started with the Colombian Army in Korea. I discovered, in the process, the fascinating and largely untold story of Colombia, Colombian-American cooperation, and U.S.–Latin American relations during the Korean War. Over the years that followed, my international history of the UN army drifted away from its concentration on Korea. A 2001 trip to Bogotá, in particular, altered the direction of the work. This book, therefore, is the unintended product of an unexpected journey. Its publication stirs contradictory feelings within me, the author: pride, humility, and gratitude. It is the most comprehensive account of U.S.-Colombian security relations published to date. It contains useful information and analyses. Still, my ability to reconstruct that past is necessarily limited. I am responsible for any errors in fact, interpretation, or presentation. Yet above all, I know that the entire undertaking would have been impossible without the assistance of many individuals and institutions.
Larry Bland, Thomas Davis, and D. Clayton James devoted special attention to my historical education at the Virginia Military Institute. At Temple University, Richard Immerman and Russell Weigley nurtured my interest in military and diplomatic history. William Stueck supervised my doctoral studies at the University of Georgia. Among his many generous acts, Professor Stueck diverted money from his personal research fund to support my work in Colombia. Lester Langley taught me about the inter-American neighborhood. William Leary, Reinaldo Román, and Thomas Whigham also made lasting intellectual impressions. Julie Dyles cheerfully attended to all my interlibrary loan requests. David Bushnell, James Henderson, Stephen Randall, Russell Ramsey, Dennis Rempe, César Torres Del Río, and Álvaro Valencia Tovar helped me learn more about Colombia, its armed forces, and its relationship with the United States.
The staffs of the Archivo General de la Nación (Bogotá), Archivo de la Presidencia de la República (Bogotá), Biblioteca Nacional (Bogotá), U.S. National Archives (College Park, Maryland), Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), George C. Marshall Research Library (Lexington, Virginia), Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library (Hyde Park, New York), Harry S. Truman Presidential Library (Independence, Missouri), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library (Abilene, Kansas), Mariners’ Museum and Library (Newport News, Virginia), Dag Hammarskjöld Library (New York), U.S. Army Center of Military History (Washington, D.C.), U.S. Army Military History Institute (Carlisle, Pennsylvania), and U.S. Naval Historical Center (Washington, D.C.) offered indispensable assistance while I worked with their collections. The University of Georgia, Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, George Mason University, and Virginia Military Institute Foundation provided financial assistance.
Between 2001 and 2003 I served as a U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory postdoctoral fellow, investigating the history of graves registration and forensic anthropology. As part of the arrangement, the military supported my ongoing study of U.S.-Colombian relations. I wrote first drafts of the chapters covering Colombian-American cooperation from 1953 to 1960 during the fellowship. Without the Central Identification Laboratory, this project might not have evolved into a book. Later, in 2003, I joined a group of talented scholars at the Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. They shared with me their diverse interests and insights; they provided unfailing support when I most needed encouragement. In particular, Kristin Ahlberg, James Siekmeier, and James Van Hook read and commented on the entire manuscript. As command historian, U.S. Southern Command, since March 2007, I have enjoyed the company of the men and women responsible for the development and implementation of U.S. military policy toward Latin America. They have shown great interest in this book. Still, the views contained herein are my own. They do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. government.
A portion of this manuscript appeared as “The Colombian Army in Korea, 1950–1954,” in the Journal of Military History (October 2005). I presented other sections as papers at the U.S. Army Historians Conference (August 2002), American Historical Association Annual Conference (January 2006), and U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute Symposium on Security Assistance (August 2006). Audience members, editors, readers, and panelists offered valuable comments and suggestions. They made this a better book.
In 2003 I sent an early version of this manuscript to Joanna Hildebrand Craig and Mary Ann Heiss at Kent State University Press. They identified the project’s potential, recommended substantive improvements, and oversaw major revisions. Together with Christine Brooks, Mary Young, and others, they then turned my work into a finished product. Throughout, the Kent State editors and staff had tremendous faith in my abilities. I will always be grateful for what they have done on my behalf.
On a personal note, I owe a particular debt to Kenneth Lee Myers for his unique support and friendship. Juana Maria Rubio Fernández provided extraordinary assistance and hospitality during my time in Bogotá. S. L. Dowdy expertly produced the maps. Kirstin Julian helped me find the photograph of Vice President Richard Nixon in Bogotá. Evan Ward offered keen insight into several important aspects of this undertaking; Jack Walsh entertained me during my midnight coffee breaks in Athens, Georgia. My parents, Lynn and Stevonna Coleman, taught me about the importance of higher education. They suggested that I study business administration, but eventually warmed to history. In all aspects of my life, I depend on the basic skills and values I learned from them.
Finally, I want to express my deepest gratitude to Keri-Lyn Coleman, my wife and best friend, to whom this book is dedicated. She has been an invaluable source of advice and assistance. She has provided unconditional love and support. Our relationship began at roughly the same time as I started this project. At every stage, she accepted far too many inconveniences, always with grace and dignity. I hope this book justifies her sacrifice.
Introduction: A Global History
World War II and the cold war transformed U.S.-Colombian security relations. After decades of bilateral tension, the Western Hemisphere’s leading democracies, Colombia and the United States, came together to defend the Americas during World War II. Although Colombia contributed less to the Allied victory than some other Latin American republics, Colombian-American cooperation promoted hemispheric solidarity, inter-American military readiness, and regional stability. Controversies surrounding economic development dominated U.S.–Latin American relations after 1945. Yet mounting Soviet-American competition encouraged hemispheric military collaboration. During a time of Colombian domestic discord, culminating in the collapse of democratic practices, the two countries converted wartime security measures into peacetime institutions. Then, Colombian and U.S. servicemen formed a successful fighting alliance in Korea. A Colombian infantry battalion and warship joined the U.S.-led UN Command in 1951. The only Latin American country to serve with the UN coalition, Colombia demonstrated to the United States its reliability in the campaign against international communism, setting the scene for greater postwar bilateral cooperation. Between 1953 and 1957, the two governments gradually shed their conventional defense affiliation in favor of a partnership designed to promote Colombian tranquility. Finally, in 1959, U.S. authori