The Doctrines of Imagination : American Foreign Policy & the Images of Puerto Rico , 1898-1965
1930-1946 : Repairing the Image of Puerto Ricans
Three years after the publication of “ Porto Rican Snow ,” the world economy crashed and the Great Depression ensued . After 1929 , the United States shifted its foreign policy in Latin America . The image of Puerto Rico and its people in the American imagination changed as well . The next evolution of the Monroe Doctrine began during Franklin D . Roosevelt ’ s administration in the 1930s . The Good Neighbor Policy became the successor to the Roosevelt Corollary . In an effort to foster relationships in Latin America during World War II , FDR used the Good Neighbor Policy to tackle the misconceptions of Latin America in the minds of Americans . FDR promised to stop intervening in Latin American countries while extending them respect , equality , and fraternity . 14 To do that , the images of the United States ’ Latin American neighbors needed to be repaired after decades of damage .
Puerto Rico ’ s image was repaired through this initiative . The island was described as a tropical paradise because of its physical features and Puerto Ricans were embraced for their white features . With the demand of cane sugar dropping precipitously during the Great Depression , the Puerto Rican economy sought to find another way to sustain itself . To do so , the economy looked to emulate other Caribbean islands like Cuba and Jamaica that had adopted tourism with fantastic results . 15
Discover Puerto Rico U . S . A . Where the Americas Meet , painted by Frank S . Nicholson . NYC Art Project , WPA .
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