Evening star., 1932-10-16
BY GASTON NERvAL.

n only Few weeks away, l
NA reviewed in my last article
the Latin American policies
of the present administra-
ton and reported the favorable COM
ments which these policies and the
platform had evoked on the other side
Of the Rio Grande.
The Republican party being the party
in power, it was easy to appraise its
present attitude toward the 20 sister
republics to the south. The record spoke
for itself. Instead of making pledges
for the future. Republican leaders had
only to point to series of official acts
and announcements of political
nature in inter American affairs, which
In the last four years had regained
much of the lost good will of the Latin
Americans toward Uncle Sam.
Paramount among these acts were
the Hoover-Stimson policy of nom
Intervention, evidence by the withdrawal
Of Marines and the new attitude OBJ
served toward Nicaragua and Haiti; the
reversion to the Jeffersonian theory of
recognition of revolutionary govern
ments. and the new State Department
Interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine
stripped of all the corollaries which had
created the legend Of United States
imperialism.
These major changes in the Latin
American policy of the Washington
Government, together with other ma
terial achievements-the development
of inter- American aerial communica
tions, the Hoover goodwill tour OF
South America, the improvement in
the diplomatic representation of the
United States. the tolerant attitude OBJ
served toward recent debt defaults, the
assistance given in the solution OF some
Latin American territorial controversies
the institution of Pan-American day,
and so on-had corrected much of the
ill-will and the fear provoked in Latin
America by the errors and mlslnter-
pretations of previous administrations
both Republican and Democratic, of the
paternalistic. big-stcK type.
Democratic Position.
The Democratic party having been
out of power for more than II years
it is much more difficult to ascertain
what its exact position would be today
in a number of outstanding problems
Of inter American relations. The only
basis for judgment are the promises OF
the partys platform and the pro-
nouncements of the Democratic presi-
dental candidate. And these. probably
! because there are so many and such
serious economic and political problems
at home have not devoted much space
to international affairs.
AS for the PLATFORM it says that the
Democratic party advocates "a firm
foreign policy" including:
Peace with all the world and the
settlement of international disputes by
arbitration: no interference in the in
teInal affairs of o.ner nations, the
sanctity Of treaties and the mainte-
nance of good faith and of good will IN
financial obliga tions and coop
Grafton with nations of the Western
Hemisphere to maintain the spirit OF
the Monroe Doctrine"
The declarations No interference in
the internal affairs of other nations
and "co-operation with the nations of
the Western Hemisphere to maintain
the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine" are
the ones which have real significance
for Latin Americans. The former has
( been the insistent demand of Latin
American statesmen for half a century
From its non application in the past
have originated most of the difficulties
and the resentment standing today lr
the way of closer Pan American un-
derstanding The trouble is that Latin
Americans remember having heard that
promise of oninterference" before
, both from Democratic and from Re-
publican Governments but they never
! had seen it really fulfilled in the prac-
/ tice until the recent changes Of policy
| announced by Secretary Stimson. The
| great Democratic leader Woodrow Will
son. in spite of his idealistic principles
is certainly not to be excepted from
/ this charge
Declaration Wholly New.
The other declaration is more i'm
portant because it is something en-
tirely new. 1t advocates Cooperation
with the Latin American countries "to
maintain the spirit of the Monroe
Doctrine" This is the first time that
one of the ma ior parties commits itself
officially to allow the Latin American
nations to cooperate with the United
States in the maintenance of the Mon
roe Doctrine. heretofore the most uni
lateral. exclusive and rather selfish
principle of the foreign policy of this
country.
This is the first time that one of the
two dominant political groups in the
United States seeks votes on the pledge
that it will cooperate with the other
American republics in the maintenance
of what was once considered the eX-
elusive privilege of Uncle Sam. This
is the first time that party platform
looks at the Monroe Doctrine in the
light of truly continental. defensive
policy. and not as an aggressive weapon
to Justify the excesses of the big
brother"
Moreover. the Democratic platform
speaks not of the Monroe Doctrine itself
which is. really, thing of the past
distorted and disfgured by its corollaries
and misuses. but of the spirit of the
Monroe Doctrine" that is. the funda-
mental noble thought underlying the
principle set forth by President Mon
roe in 1928
Outside of this declaration however
the Democratic platform had little tC
saw on the matter of Pan-American re-