Page:Latin America and the war (IA latinamericawar00perc).djvu/19



When on February 3, 1917, President Wilson announced to the world that diplomatic relations with Germany had been severed he expressed the hope that the remaining neutral countries might see fit to follow the example of the United States. There can be little doubt that he chiefly had in mind the republics of Latin America; if so, his hopes were only partially realized. Of the twenty Latin American republics, eight eventually declared war: Brazil, Cuba, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Five severed relations with Germany: Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. Seven remained neutral: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Salvador, Venezuela, and Paraguay. Thus thirteen of our southern neighbors voiced in some official manner their solidarity with and sympathy for the ideals and purposes of the United States and our Allies.

Of the actual belligerents, only two, Brazil and Cuba, may be said to have taken anything like an active part in the war; while Argentina and Chile, both members of the group of the so-called ABC powers, carefully preserved a status of official neutrality. Mexico, the most important state north of the Isthmus, and next