Francisco García Calderón Rey

Francisco Garcia Calderon (1883 - 1953) was a Peruvian writer.

He was born into a wealthy and politically prominent family in Lima, Peru on April 8th, 1883. His father was Francisco García Calderón the first, who was the President of Peru for a short time during the Chilean occupation of Peru. His name is sometimes spelled with “Rey” at the end to show the difference between himself and his father.

After finishing a degree in law at the University of San Marcos, he pursued a career in public service and worked in the Ministerio de Hacienda; he also served as president of Arequipa's constitutional congress, and was a key figure in the final peace process between Peru and Chile. He was an author and diplomat who would also become the Peruvian Minister to Belgium. He was also known for being part of what was called the “Generation of the 900,” who were identified by having old Peruvian nobility in their blood and to be part of the Chilean-Peruvian conflict.

After his fathers’ death, Calderon and his family migrated to Paris. All of his works have been published by European companies. He also played a role in the Paris Peace conference of 1919, a meeting of the Allied Powers of World War I, who determined the fate of the Central Powers.

With Latin America progressing into the 20th Century, many concerns were raised about the international policies many of the countries had with the United States. Calderon, being raised around politics, and eventually growing up into a diplomat and author, was concerned about the well being of Latin America under the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary. Both were American foreign policies restricting Latin America from having any kind of relationship with the European powers at that time. Therefore making the United States the sole support of the western hemisphere and would intervene in any “wrong doing” that could have been done to Latin America.

Francisco wrote a 400 page article, concerning itself with Latin America and its U.S. foreign policies. It described what is called “Yankee imperialism.” Historian Sidney Lens argues that "the United States, from the time it gained its own independence, has used every available means—political, economic, and military—to help and nurture other nations." Basically, it is the idea of America trying to spread its own ideas into other portions of the world. Some feel that this was what the Monroe Doctrines’ soul purpose was and it is compared to today’s policies with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, such as the efforts in Iraq.

He died in Lima, his birthplace, on first of July, 1953.

Latin American: Its Rise and Progress

This was Francisco Garcia Calderon’s most read book, published in 1912. Roscoe Hill of Columbia University explains how Calderon presents an “admirable interpretation of the life, the thought, the history and the problems of what he is pleased to call Latin-American Democracies.” The book itself is broken down in to volumes, each consisting of the different aspects of the lives and history of Latin Americans from conquest to present times.

Book one, according to Hill, is the pre-colonial era to the introduction to the mixing of peoples through different types of methods. The coming of the Europeans offered the blood of white men to the indigenous. Africans, who were brought over to replace the Indians as slaves, would also contribute to the mixing of the blood and people of the various “states,” or colonies, of Latin America. With the birth of mulattos, new identities were created. Mulattos are presently able to trace their bloodlines to both “Anglo-Saxon,” which Calderon coined as the people who were of English descent and Native Americans who inhabited the area. Creoles, whose ancestry is considered of foreign birth but whose offspring were born on Latin American soil, also contributed to the new Latin American nationality.

Book one also travels into the problems of the Latin American colonies and how they freed themselves through revolutions. Calderon salutes and recognizes the influences of the French revolutions and the uprisings of the English colonies in North America against its former owner, Great Britain. He also presents a theory about the Latin American revolution leaders and other figure heads. Leaders like Simon Bolivar, he explains, follow the pattern of being “regenerators, restorers, and protectors.” Calderon believed that the leader regenerated the people in having the belief of becoming independent, while restoring order and peace, then finally continuing to protect what he and his followers had fought for. He also theorized that the independent country followed a similar pattern which is as follows: “a revolution, a dictator, a program.” Though many Latin American countries did follow this specific pattern, not all had. It might have been his own personal point of view to call a leader of another country a dictator.

Books two to four were basically in support of his theory, showing some of the different leaders of the Latin American countries, their policies, and how they affected the country. It is not until book six that modern policies or influences are introduced. He goes on to talk about the nationality of Latin America in present time and the threats of the outside world upon them. He does not necessarily attack the Monroe Doctrine or its’ successors but he intends to show how Northern American policies pertaining to Latin America affect them in the negative light.

He explains how though there are connections to European countries who also pose a threat, namely Germany, North America, through the Monroe Doctrine, is trying to control the area for itself. By intervening with Latin American foreign policies, the States did not allow other countries to trade with Latin America, giving the Americans 30% control over the exports of Latin America. Calderon also described the situations with Cuba and Puerto Rico, which the Americans’ claimed to be dealing with but wound up annexing. He also uses the annexation of Texas, the buying of land along Panama to build the canal and the intervening of the country of Acre which was located in present day western Brazil as some other ways of showing the negative aspects of the Monroe Doctrine and its successors.

On the other hand, Calderon brings up some honorable situation which the Americans have been involved with. Though it might not be considered a deed to be revered for, but the Americans supported and armed Venezuelans to overthrow local tyrants. He also shows that America’s growing industry at the turn of the century, along with it’s involvement in Latin America helped them technologically advance as well. With the help of the Americans, railroads tracks had been placed so that they can move exports throughout the continent without the use of the ships. Since the canal was not built yet, shipping items from one side to the other side of the continent was time consuming and the contents could spoil or become ruined in the lengthy transport. The high mountains of Peru and Chile were no longer an obstacle which the people would have to endure since they could now pass over them in no time.

Aside from the American foreign policies and other European influences, Calderon identifies that Latin America also has their own problems which have nothing to do with the policies of other countries. Mainly dealing with the financial issues of the entire continent, he feels that the issues that many of the Latin American countries had were due to their debt problems. The necessary wars with Spain, Calderon explains, is partly to blame since they did not have the funds to support their independent wars and had to rely on other countries to lend them money and armaments. Being unable to pay back these loans, the foreign countries, mostly Europeans who had their own reasons for helping these countries against the Spanish, tried to find other means of payment. These means ran along the lines of exported goods, land ownership, and government cooperation. America became the sole creditor of the Latin American countries, becoming hegemonic or controlling them without directly controlling.

Conclusion

Through the writings of Francisco Garcia Calderon, he concludes that Latin America’s dependency on other countries was inevitable. He continues this thought by explaining that without European (or American) money, none of the luxuries Latin America has today would have been possible. With the help of other countries, railroads were placed, ports were built, and governments were able to stabilize. Latin America: Its Rise and Progress is not an attack or a defiance of the foreign policies of other countries in Latin America, but rather an explanation for those who possibly could think this way. Though it can be argued that many of the policies were an attempt to re-colonize or control the independent states, using such key items as the Monroe Doctrine or the Polk Doctrine, Calderon does not present which side he necessarily stand on.

Works

* De litteris (1904)
* Le Pérou contemporain (1907)
* Profesores de idealismos (1909)
* La creación de un continente (1912)
* Les démocraties latines de l'Amerique (1912)
* El dilemma de la Gran Guerra (1919)
* América Latina y el Perú del novecientos: antología de textos(1834-1905)

References

* Burroughs, Wilber Greenley, “Latin America: Its Rise and Progress”, Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Book Review. Vol. 47, No 10, 1915.

* Garcia, Francisco Calderon, “Latin America: Its Rise and Progress”, The Human Record Volume II Since 1500, 5th Edition, Edited By Alfred J Andrea and James H. Overfield (New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005).

* Hill, Roscoe R., “Latin America: Its Rise and Progress”, Political Science Quarterly, Book Review, Vol. 28, No. 4, 1913, Columbia University. Burroughs, Wilber Greenley, “Latin America: Its Rise and Progress”, Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Book Review. Vol. 47, No 10, 1915.