MIA > Archive > Drape > Militarization
From Labor Action, Vol. 14 No. 4, 23 January 1950, p. 2.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
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This is one of a series of articles on the militarization of American government and life, based on the findings of a committee of nationally known liberals. This committee, organized as the National Council Against Conscription, in February of last year published the booklet New Evidence of the Militarization of America. (A previous booklet, entitled The Militarization of America, had been published in January 1948.) All the information and quotations used in the present series of articles comes from the first-named booklet. The NCAC publications are sponsored by a group including: Pearl Buck, Louis Bromfield, Albert Einstein, Victor Reuther, President James G. Patton of the National Farmers Union, Prof. P.A. Sorokin of Harvard, former Secretary of Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, President W.S. Townsend of the CIO Transport Service Employees, President C.S. Johnson of Fisk University, President W.J. Millor, S.J., of the University of Detroit, and many other prominent individuals. |
In our relations with Central and South America there is a strong military influence. As early as May 19, 1926, Congress authorized military missions to all countries in the Western hemisphere. On June 4, 1938, Congress agreed also to authorize the navy to help train Latin American forces.
Since then the army and navy have been operating on an important scale in Latin America. In early 1946 there were 17 military missions in 13 countries and in the year 1946–47 $408,390 was spent on American military and naval missions to Latin American governments for the training of troops. In the year 1947–48 the sum for these missions has increased to $1,240,000.
The purpose of the increased use of military missions, according to army spokesmen before the House Appropriations sub-committee is to encourage “training in our methods and utilization of our equipment by Latin American armies.”
In line with this, the army and navy began a program of pressure to get the United States to “transfer a considerable quantity of equipment to Canada and the Latin American nations.” They were successful in getting President Truman on May 26, 1947. to ask Congress to make “arms and military equipment ... available to the other American states.”
Despite army and navy pressure, civilian elements in the State Department led by Spruille Braden continued to oppose the Latin American arms program on the ground that it would not strengthen their defenses but would strengthen the non-democratic elements in the hemisphere at the expense of the democratic elements.
Dean Acheson, then undersecretary of State, in a letter to the War and Navy Departments on March 19, 1947, said that encouraging expenditures for armaments would weaken their economies and therefore their political stability.” [Human Events Supplement, April 1947]
General Marshall “rejected the advice of his State Department Latin American advisers and fell in alongside his old army associates.” [New Republic, June 9, 1947]
President Truman's message and General Marshall's support were hailed by those nations “where the army had long played a major role in politics. One of the first to endorse the plan was Argentina’s Peron government.” [Ibid.]
Many civilian elements, however, regarded “the arms program with genuine distress. ‘Why send us more guns which we do not want when we need hospitals and machinery?’ they ask.” [Washington Daily News, August 19, 1947]
The Washington Post editorially opposed the measure, saying:
“We conclude that the whole thing is dangerous from beginning to end, and we should rue the day that we inaugurated this arms traffic, set up our military missions as the dominant element in our representation to Latin American countries, and elevated the status of Latin American military staffs as the dominant element in those countries.” [Washington Post, June 28, 1947]
Although the arms standardization bill did not pass, lend-lease military equipment was sent to South American nations as late as 1947 and war surplus was made available at a fraction of the original cost of the material.
In addition to this, the State Department sanctioned munitions sales by U.S. firms to Central and South America totalling $54,064,378.63. This was only slightly less than the sum of $55,670,593.23 paid by Europe to U.S. munitions firms.
To “Colombia, where a liberal revolt April 9 in Bogota almost wrecked the Pan American Conference ... $1,707,524.57 in arms, ammunition, vessels, military aircraft, chemicals and explosives” were sent.
“Costa Rica, where rebels have overthrown the established government and sent its leaders fleeing, $298,735.33 in arms and ammunition” was sent.
“Nicaragua, whose troops recently entered strife-torn Costa Rica,” received $554,870.77 in arms.” [Albany Knickerbocker News, April 22, 1948]
In Nicaragua in 1929 the U.S. army forced the government to establish a National Guard which would function both as an army and was a domestic police force. Given complete control over all armaments, ships, prisons, forts, etc., the guard was extremely powerful. General Anastasio Somoza, who became chief of the guard in January 1933 has, except for an interval of six weeks, ruled Nicaragua ever since.
The Dominican Republic, which was fighting with Venezuela and Guatemala, “brought in 15 primary trainers from the United States to train army pilots” and “he (President Trujillo) is dickering for acquisition of American P-51 fighters.” Trujillo, a dictator who has ruled his country for 18 years, “has imported Americans to handle his stepped-up air program.” [Washington Evening Star, June 10, 1948]
Ecuador, where a Col. Mancheno took control of the government and established a dictatorship in August 1947, had received through 1946 a total of $7,534,175 in U.S. armaments under the lend-lease program.
In Paraguay in October 1948 the government suppressed a revolt which centered in the military academy. Paraguay had received $101,621.17 in American armaments during 1947.
Armed soldiers under the command of high army officers attacked the police headquarters in an effort to overthrow the government in Paraguay. Other army units were in readiness to participate if the overthrow seemed obvious. However, quick presidential action in using a few loyal regiments ended the revolt. A Paraguay dispatch summarized the situation by saying: “After having helped save his own regime by quick action on October 25, President Juan N. Gonzalez is now attempting to placate and control all factions of the army and to achieve a united front in his own party.” [N.Y. Times, Dec. 2, 1948]
In Peru the army deposed the president after a three-day revolt and the leader of the revolt, General Odria, became president.
A Venezuelan political crisis in which the cabinet resigned was reported in the November 24, 1948, New York Times. The account stated that “President Gallegos will announce tomorrow a new cabinet dominated by men acceptable to the ‘moderate’ wing of the nation’s armed force.”
The Times also stated that “the military representatives were reported to have been demanding changes in the government and particularly the inclusion of more military men in the cabinet and other government posts.” Even though the president acquiesced in these changes, “the army staged a coup and threw President Gallegos out of office.” (November 28, 1948)
In Chile, an attempted coup led by three high army and four high air force officers failed to overthrow the government, largely because some army elements remained loyal to the government. Santiago newspapers said editorially that “foreign money and influence” had played its part in the uprising though they did not mention the nationality. Later Chile officials implicated military elements in Argentina.
The United States had previously arrived at an agreement with Argentina, where for a four-year period a U.S. army mission would advise that country’s armed forces. Similar military agreements have been reached with thirteen other American republics and the U.S. is currently negotiating additional pacts with other Western hemisphere countries. Prior to the surprise disbanding of Costa Rica’s small army, the U.S. army maintained a military mission there to train Costa Rica’s “force of 500 officers and men.”
The United States has an air base in Brazil as well as the right to use the Galapagos Islands and other bases in South America. There are American bases also in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, British Guiana, St. Thomas, Bermuda and Trinidad.
Last updated on 25 February 2023