Rodrigo Botero - Ambivalent Embrace: Americas Troubled Relations with Spain from the Revolutionary War to the Cold War (Contributions to the Study of World History)

Cover

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AMBIVALENT EMBRACE

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Americas Troubled Relations with Spain from the Revolutionary War to the Cold War

RODRIGO BOTERO

Contributions to the Study of World History, Number 78

GREENWOOD PRESS

Westport, Connecticut London

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Botero, Rodrigo.
Ambivalent embrace : Americas troubled relations with Spain from the
Revolutionary War to the Cold War / by Rodrigo Botero.
p. cm.(Contributions to the study of world history, ISSN 08859159 ; no. 78)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-313-31570-1 (alk. paper)
1. United StatesRelationsSpain. 2. SpainRelationsUnited States. I. Title.
II. Series.
E183.8.S7B68 2001
303.48'273046dc21 00035356

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright 2001 by Rodrigo Botero

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00035356
ISBN: 0-313-31570-1
ISSN: 08859159

First published in 2001

Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.481984).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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For Louise

and, In Memoriam
Jaime Botero Londoo
Fabiola Montoya de Botero

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The author shaking hands with Francisco Franco. At center is Misael Pastrana, Ambassador to Washington at the time, later President (19701974).

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Significant differences in the historical trajectories of Spain and the United States have shaped the peculiar character of their bilateral relations for two centuries. From the start of the North American Revolutionary War in the 1770s, until the consolidation of constitutional democracy in post-Franco Spain during the 1970s, the pattern of relations between Spain and the United States could be described as consisting of long periods of disinterest and estrangement, interrupted by short bursts of mutual interaction, usually of an adversarial nature. It is only in the last two decades that the bilateral relationship has come to resemble the prevailing norm between advanced Western democratic societies, which is one of close ties and friendly cooperation in the economic, political, cultural, and military spheres.

Spain has been a leading protagonist of worldhistorical events on three occasions: first and foremost, during the ascendancy of the Hapsburgs, when an American colonial empire was established; in modern times during the struggle against the Napoleonic invasion, and again during the Spanish civil war of 19361939. For the United States, the Revolutionary War, the adoption of the Constitution, the expansion to continental dimensions and the Civil War were events of worldhistorical significance, as was its emergence as a major industrial and military power at the end of the nineteenth century. During several of these stages the colonial interests of Spain came into conflict with the interests

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of the United States as an expanding power. In the process of territorial expansion and consolidation of its role as the preeminent power in the Western Hemisphere, policy makers in the United States regarded Spain as a rival and an obstacle to the fulfillment of the national destiny. Likewise, Spanish officials regarded the emergence of a sovereign nation in North America as a potential threat to the metropolitan trade monopoly, and eventually to the security of the Spanish American colonies.