Good Neighbor Policy

The Good Neighbor Policy was an American foreign policy for Latin America implemented during the government of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This strategy consisted of abandoning military intervention in the countries of the American continent and replacing it with diplomacy and cultural approximation.

Origin of the Good Neighbor Policy

The Good Neighbor policy aimed to change the interventionist image of the United States to that of a “good neighbor”.

Therefore, instead of attributing the right to intervene militarily in Latin American countries, the United States preferred to use diplomacy.

In this way, the Americans guaranteed the supply of raw materials and a market for their products, as Europe was in crisis because of the Crisis of 1929.

They also wanted to lessen Germany's influence on the continent and thus secure a zone of allies in this area that was so close to them geographically.

In this way, a group of businessmen began to formulate a strategy of political approximation for Latin America, which would be adopted by the government of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945).

The Good Neighbor policy specifically targeted Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.

The Good Neighbor Policy and Brazil

The North American Good Neighbor policy coincided with the government of Getúlio Vargas in Brazil.

Despite the Vargas government having fascist and nationalist leanings, the pro-American current prevailed.

Getúlio Vargas negotiated loans with the Americans in order to modernize the Brazilian industrial park. In return, he guaranteed the entry of American products and the supply of raw materials.

Likewise, in terms of foreign policy, Brazil initially declared itself neutral in the face of the war and then participated in the conflict.

It is important to remember that those who sympathized with Nazism and Fascism in Brazil were persecuted, as were schools that taught in a foreign language.

Good Neighborhood and Culture Policy

The most visible side of the Good Neighbor policy is the cultural.

Brazil was visited by great names of American culture such as actor and director Orson Welles (1915-1985) and Walt Disney (1901-1966). This would create the character Zé Carioca, a Brazilian parrot, who would host Donald Duck in Rio de Janeiro in the film “Aquarela do Brasil”, with music by Ary Barroso (1903-1964).

In turn, several Brazilian artists such as Carmem Miranda (1909-1955) and the musician Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) went to the United States to collaborate in the film industry.

Also the filmmaker Luiz Carlos Barreto (1928) went to Hollywood to work as a kind of consultant, in order to see if the films made did not "offend" the Latinos.

Carmen Miranda

The big star of the time was the singer and actress Carmem Miranda. The artist was already a phenomenon of Brazilian music and managed to win over Americans by participating in musicals on Broadway and countless films in Hollywood.

It is criticized that she contributed to the stereotype of the Latin American who sings, dances and dresses in an exotic way.

Consequences of the Good Neighbor Policy

The years of Good Neighbor politics left a deep mark on Brazilian culture, as the United States became the country's cultural reference.

Even eating habits were changed with the inclusion of drinks like milk-shake , soft drinks, hamburgers and other specialties of North American cuisine in Brazilian daily life.

The Good Neighbor policy ended after the end of World War II, in 1946. Latin America was not a priority for the Americans, as it was already considered to have been sufficiently conquered in political and economic terms.

The continent would only become a target of concern after the Cuban Revolution, as there was fear that the region would pass into the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union.

Read about this topic:

• Crisis of 1929
• New Status
• Era Vargas
• Brazil in World War II
• North American Imperialism
• Women Who Made the History of Brazil
• Questions about World War II