The American Rationale - Essay Example

Second, the Dominican debt included American creditors and the United States wanted to see that they were paid and American control of Dominican finances made this more likely. The principle that the United States would force countries in the western hemisphere to pay their foreign debt is the Roosevelt Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine. Third, the United States wanted to make a statement and demonstrate to other countries in the western hemisphere that if they did not pay their foreign debts the United States would intervene and force them to.

The Dominican Rationale. Accepting the fiscal convention preempted direct military intervention by the European states that would have interfered with Dominican sovereignty. It also prevented direct military intervention by the United States. In this sense it allowed the Dominican to avoid a worse fate – invasion. Also, there was implicit coercion involved in American advocacy of the Convention and Dominican acceptance of it. In fact, American forces would invade the Dominican less than one decade later.

Finally, President Ramón Cáceres, eventually assassinated in 1911, was unsure that he could retain power without the support of the United States which was conditional on his acceptance of the Convention.