Caracas Conference and its Impact on the US-Mexican Relations 1954-1957
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Abstract
Mexico refused to vote on the US resolution to condemning communism at the Caracas Conference in 1954. this refusal led to the escalation of American pressure on the Mexican government, which in turn did not put in place any anti-communist legislation or a program that excluded the communist from Mexican lands, and thus it became a place for the communists excluded from Latin American countries. This raised US fears of a Communist infiltration into the Mexican political system at a time when the United States was keen to win political regimes by its side, even if they were undemocratic, especially with the most important country with which it shares land and sea borders. Mexico realized that anti-communism was the standard by which the United States of America measured the loyalty of its allies, and it also realized that the US strategy against communist expansion in Latin America might force it to intervene in Mexico, which led to the Mexican government’s surrender to US pressure, especially after the US intervention in Guatemala in 1954, when Mexico declared its solidarity with the United States against communism.
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References
Published Documents
A. Foreign Relations of the United States:
• Foreign Relations of the United States, Vol.IV, 1952-1954, Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Cabot) to the Acting Secretary of State, No.70, Washington, February 10, 1954.
• F.R.U.S., Vol.IV, 1952-1954, Report Prepared in the Department of State, No.78, Washington, April, 1954.
• F.R.U.S., Vol.IV, 1952-1954, Progress Report Prepared in the Department of State for the Operations Coordinating Board, No.8, Washington, May 25, 1954.
• F.R.U.S., Vol.IV, 1952-1954, Memorandum for the Files, by the Ambassador in Mexico (White), No.595, Mexico City, June 3, 1954.
• F.R.U.S., Vol.IV, 1952-1954, Memorandum for the Files, by the Ambassador in Mexico (White), No.595, Mexico City, June 3, 1954.
• F.R.U.S., Vol.IV, 1952-1954, Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State, No.596, Washington, September 22, 1954.
• F.R.U.S., Vol.VI, 1955-1957, Letter from the Ambassador in Mexico (White) to the President, No.213, Mexico City, August 29, 1955.
B. Central Intelligence Agency:
• Central Intelligence Agency, Possible Anti- Communist Attitude of Government, No.5499, December 9, 1953.
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• CIA, Kugown-Congress Against Soviet Intervention in Latin America, Mexico City, No.922, June 1, 1954.
• CIA, Guatemalan Matters Shipment of Arms Via Mexico, No.915, April 3, 1954.
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C. U.S. Congress
• U.S. Congress, Claims Resulting from Rio Grande Floods Department of State, Vol.14, No.1247, Washington, November, 1953.
D. US State Department News releases:
• US. Department of State Publication: International Organization and Conference Series, Tenth Inter-American Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, March 1-28, 1954: Vol.14, U.S. Government Printing Office, August 3, 1955.
• U.S. Department of State, The Department of State Bulletin, Vol.XXXVI, No.915, Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs, February 25, 1957.
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