Never Draw Unless You Mean to Shoot : United States Department of State\u27s Responses to Property Seizures in Latin America

This thesis examines the U.S. Department of State\u27s diplomatic handling of disputes over the seizure of U.S.-owned property in Latin America between 1937 and 1973. Seizures in Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru and Chile are used as case studies, and provide examples of successful and unsuccessful diplomatic outcomes. Several key factors are analyzed in each dispute, including Several key factors are analyzed in each dispute, including whether the Department took a conciliatory or confrontational approach toward each country, the kind of economic pressure applied, the situations under which the Department opted for official diplomatic involvement, and the types of informal facilitative assistance provided to U.S. claimants. The thesis then attempts to determine which measures helped to resolve outstanding disputes and which did not