WORLD NEWS IN STORY 'S AND PICTURE

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

WORLD NEWS IN STORY 'S AND PICTURE

The latest Pan-American conference has ended. Held at Lima, the capital of Peru, the country of the 'old Incas, it was the result of the United States of America trying to supplant the famous Monroe Doctrine, which many of the Latin American republics repudiated.' -This.doctrine had as its aims the complete control of all the Americas, North, Central and South, by Washington. The Latin American republics resented this. When the doctrino was first announced these republics were not strong enough to object, although they resented interference in their affairs by an Englishspeaking republic. At the same time tho Monroe Doctrine is said to have prevented at least one case of seizure of South American land by a European nation, supporting the chief claim of the doctrine that no .Euro-, pean nation could attempt to seize land ill the Americas without, the threat of war from the United States. The principal example of this was when a dispute between the United States of Venezuela and Great Britain occurred over the

By ARPAD SZIGETVARY.

boundary of British Guiana. .Washington, under the Monroe Doctrine, threatened war, but the result was a compromise. Again in 1003 Venezuela once more brought the Monroe Doctrine into prominence. Strange to relate, a combined force of tish,'German and Italian warships blockaded the Venezuelan coast owing to certain claims. Venezuela appealed to Washington for aid under the Monroe Doctrine. This again ended in a fizzle out. The dispute'was referred to the International Court at The Hague, and Britain, Germany and Italy were awarded £091,100 damages, while 'other countries were satisfied later; * * These I give you as examples that the Monroe Doctrine did not help the rest of the Americas much. As the Latin American republics became stronger their resentment against the attempted domination of.

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the.North American republic became stronger. The republic of Argentina was one of the first to object and stated plainly that she did not recognise the alleged right of Washington to control the whole of the continent. Since then the Monroe Doctrine has been increasingly weakened. Now the stage has been.reached that nobody pays much attention to it. Hence the attempt to create something in its stead, and that is ail attempt to create a mutual alliance between, all the, American republics, numbering 51 ill all. , That mutual alliance means i equality for all," not; domination by tho United States of America, and tliat* is why I see in the result of the latest Pan-Ameridan conference (at/Lima the. defeat.»of .the Monroe Doctrine and V theYvictory °f what 'may bCconi6 v a' ; truly united America, North, Central and South. When I say a truly United America I mean one which can discuss all questions on as equal a basis as. is possible between powerful* and:

weak nations. For instance,;- the United States of America, the Argentine and the United States of Brazil are the strong nations of .' . the 'Americas, that is, of. course, if we exclude Canada as -being part of the British Commonwealth of Nations. On the other end of the scale we have small andj>very ; weak nations such as the negro repubHc of Haiti and Santo Domingo. r It' is~ naturally impossible in this imperfect world of ours for the voices of these weak nations to carry as much weight as those of'the strong ones. The failure of" the League • of Nations has proved* all that most 'emphatically for us. •On tlie other hand the League's political activities were practically confined to Europe—another cause of Geneva's downfall. . In the Americas there exists a powerful tie which makes possible the realisation of the dream that the weak shall have equality with the strong—the fear- that terri-tory-seeking European nations may attempt to seize land in Latin America. That fear does not concern the weak American republics alone — Brazil has a similar threat to face. That is why- in the Americas '• we have a faint possibility of the weak equalling the strong in politics affecting them overseas, for unity- is strength-and unity is achieved by everyone being in agreement. ' .. »