The producers news., 1927-07-15
Latin Americans Fear
Slavery From Oil

Bv Harvey O'Connor, Federated Press
Washington - (FP) - Of the two
predominant issues in American for
eign policy, the governments rela-
tions with Britain and with Latin |
America, the latter is causing more
and more concern. Although Geneva |
has brought the growing, cocksure
imperialism of America face to face
with the declining but still arrant I'M
perialism of Britain, officials IN both
the state and commerce departments
view Latin American developments
with more anxiety. Meeting Brl-
tain's claim of supremacy on the sea
is a mere matter of money and ships,
but the Latin American question is
far more subtle and less amenable to
solutio nby simple superiority OF
guns and marines.
The hollow apology of the Federal
Oil Conservation Board that it really
did not mean what it said when 1T
urged full state department support
for naked oil Imperialism in Mexico
and South America instances the deli
cate relations between the yankee
Colossus of the North" and the ap-
parently weak and divided nations
south of the Rio Grande. Said the
Board in a recent report:
"The fields of Mexico and South
America are of large yield and much
promising geological oil structure as
vet undrilled That our companies
should vigorously acquire and ex-
plore such fields is of first import
ance, not only as a source of future
supply, but supply under our own
citizens"
Naturally the Latin oil-producing
ountries-Mexico, Colombia, Vene-
zuela ~ have interpreted that as
meaning that American oil companies
should monopolize the Latin Ameri-
can fields, driving out foreign, i. e.
British, competitors and preventing
the nations involving from exerting
any control over their own greatest
natural resource. In the phrase Gun
der control of our own citizens" they
visualize American battleships and
marines supporting American ex-
ploiters in obtaining and keeping a
monopoly of a product which the
Latins regard as belonging to al
the people, rather than to a few
powerful foreign corporations.
The Boards labored apology speaks
of respect for the needs of the ma.
tions although manifestly
neither Mexico, Venezuela nor Colon
bia, agricultural nations, have very
extensive needs for oil. The Boart
entirely overlooks the Latin Ameri
can objection that oil is a natural re
source, given by nature and from
which all the people should benefit.
That oil is the major factor il
American diplomacy in Mexico an,
the Caribbean becomes more apparen
eevry day. The entire Mexican prob
lem is now in the hands of Under
secretary of State Robert E. Olds-
he who issued the famous don't-quote
me interview regarding Mexico cha
longing American hegemony of tn
Caribbean, which inflamed Mexican
American relations last spring ar
brought Intervention so close that el
thusiastic militarists here almo
smelled the gunpOwder. Olds may z
to Mexico as ambassador himself,
important in the eyes of the sta
department is the struggle over WI
should control Mexico's oil-Mexic
herself, or the Mellon-Doheny-Sin
Standard Oil combination.
The oil struggle in the Caribbes
is approaching a crisis expressed be
in the words of Jose Bejarano, seer
tary Of the Mexican Chamber of Con
merce of New York in a speech b
fore the anti-imperialist conference
the Peoples Reconstruction League
Washington last week:
GA period is rapidly approaching
the history of Mexico which will fl
ally decide the fate not only of Me7
CO, but of many Latin-American cou
tries; it will either be the epoch
economic emancipation or the begi
ming of the collapse of the enti
Latin-American race. American il
perialism will not be mainly to blan
To protest against the imperialism
the United States because of Anne
can political, commerce
economic and ideological-in O
countries, is like protesting agair
the clouds when it rains and our roc
are leaky"
In that last line is a predict
either of MeXico's slavery, or of
Latin-American union for defer
against American imperialism. Pre-
ably Beparano sees the apparent
evitably of the Collapse of the Il
in-American race" in the uneql
struggle against American oil bare
and battleships.