Evening star., 1936-08-02
NY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
~ RESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S
- good neighbor policy with
Latin America, now placed
L above all else on the New Deal
international horizon, has recently
been going through an extremely deli
cate phase, which may affect our re-
lations on the American continent for
years to come.
1t is period of diplomatic and
economic jockeying between those two
powerful republics Of South America
Argentina and Brazil. The negotia-
tions between those two neighbors and
the United States are not unlike the
diplomatic dickering now In progress
between Great Britain. France and
Germany.
For years Brazil has been the tradi-
tional friend of the United States. No
matter how much Latin American
criticism was heaped on Washington
during the days of Nicaraguan inter-
vention and the oil notes to Mexico,
Brazil arose as our friend and cham
pion. Even at the Pan-American
Conference Of 1929 in Havana, when
Charles Evans Hughes fought battle
against terrific odds to prevent the
Pan-American nations from censoring
the United States on Intervention,
Brazil came forward with a stand
which blocked the resolution.
Then there is the Brazilian navy,
which for years has been trained by
American naval officers. When the
United States entered the World War,
Brazil automatically declared war also.
And when the United States declared
war on Spain, Brazil was the only
country to stand forth on continent
of Spanish nations and send two war
ships to the aid of the United States.
Unwritten Alliance Strained.
But within the last two years this
unwritten alliance has been strained
slightly by the new Roosevelt policy
of courting closer relations with
Argentina.
To appreciate properly what this
means, it is necessary to remember,
first, that Argentina and Brazil long
have been ardent and sometimes bitter
rivals: and. secondly, that Argentina
for years has been the chief critic
Of the United States in South America.
Argentina,s policy has been to ally
herself with Great Britain just as
faithfully AS Brazil allied herself with
the United States The motives in
each case were economic. The great
outlet for Argentine meat and, to a
lesser extent, wheat. is Great Britain.
just as the great outlet for Brazilian
coffee is the United States.
Moreover, British interests have
been almost inextricably woven into
the Argentine economic fabric. Most
of the railroads are British built and
owned; the banks are British, the
shipping lines, the brokerage houses,
the meat packing plants and even one
newspaper are British.
Into this essentially pro-British at
mosphere, Secretary of State Hull in
jected President Roosevelt's good
neighbor policy in the Autumn of
1888 with a special visit to President
Justo and Foreign Minister Saavedra
Lamas. Brazil Immediately became
suspicious. This suspicion changed
to mild resentment when Cordell Hull
rose on the floor of the Montevideo
Conference and followed the lead of
Saavedra Lamas in denouncing the
policy Of armed Intervention in the
affairs Of Latin American countries.
Brazil Left Holding the Bag.
Previously. the Brazilian delegate,
expecting the United States to take
its traditional stand for intervention,
had made a glowing speech regarding
its necessity, so that Mr.. Hull's re-
treat left him shamefacedly holding
the bag.
Since that time a series Of minor
incidents have popped up to mar the
old entente cordiale between the
United States and Brazil, two old ira
ditional friends of the Western Hem
sphere.
First of all came the sending Of
American naval advisers to Argentina.
Brazil did not greet this with any en-
thusiasn1. since the Argentine and