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Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance

 

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Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance



 
 
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (commonly known as the Rio Treaty, the Rio Pact, or by the Spanish-language acronym TIAR from Tratado Interamericano de Asistencia Recíproca) was an agreement ratified on 1947 in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , is the second largest city of Brazil and South America, behind S?o Paulo, and the third largest metropolitan area in South America, behind S?o Paulo and Buenos Aires....
 among many American
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 countries. The central principle contained in its articles is that an attack against one is to be considered an attack against them all; this was known as the "hemispheric defense" doctrine.






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The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (commonly known as the Rio Treaty, the Rio Pact, or by the Spanish-language acronym TIAR from Tratado Interamericano de Asistencia Recíproca) was an agreement ratified on 1947 in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , is the second largest city of Brazil and South America, behind S?o Paulo, and the third largest metropolitan area in South America, behind S?o Paulo and Buenos Aires....
 among many American
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 countries. The central principle contained in its articles is that an attack against one is to be considered an attack against them all; this was known as the "hemispheric defense" doctrine. The treaty was initially ratified in 1947, with Bahamas as the most recent country to sign and ratify it in 1982. It came into force in 1948 (in accordance with Article 22 of the treaty).

Members


History

The treaty was adopted by the original signatories on September 2, 1947 in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , is the second largest city of Brazil and South America, behind S?o Paulo, and the third largest metropolitan area in South America, behind S?o Paulo and Buenos Aires....
 (hence the colloquial name "Rio Treaty"). It came into force on December 3, 1948. It was registered with the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 on December 20, 1948. It was the formalisation of the Act of Chapultepec, adopted at the Inter-American Conference on the Problems of War and Peace in 1945 in Mexico City
Mexico City

Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
. The United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 had maintained a hemispheric defense policy under the Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine is a United States policy introduced on December 2, 1823, which said that further efforts by European governments to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression requiring US intervention....
, and during the 1930s had been alarmed by Axis
Axis Powers

The Axis powers were those countries that were opposed to the Allies of World War II during World War II. The three major Axis powers - Nazi Germany, Kingdom of Italy , and Empire of Japan - were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers....
 overtures toward military cooperation with Latin American governments, in particular apparent strategic threats against the Panama Canal
Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a man-made canal which joins the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean oceans. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, it had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South Am...
. During the war Washington had been able to secure Allied
Allies

In general, allies are people, groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose....
 support from all individual governments except Uruguay
Uruguay

Uruguay is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.7 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area....
, which remained neutral, and wished to make those commitments permanent.

The treaty was invoked numerous times during the 1950s and 1960s, in particular supporting the United States during the Cold War With the exceptions of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an island country in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles....
 (1967) and the Bahamas (1982), no countries that became independent after 1947 have joined the treaty. During the Falklands War
Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands....
 (Malvinas in Spanish), the United States, who is committed to the Rio Treaty as well as NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
, arguing that Argentina was the aggressor, favoured the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. This was seen by Latin American countries as the final failure of the treaty. In 2001, the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 invoked the Rio Treaty after the September 11 attacks but Latin American democracies did not join the "War on Terror" actively. In September 2002, citing the Falklands example and anticipating the Iraq War
Iraq War

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing conflicts military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a Multinational force in Iraq now led by and composed almost entirely of troops from the United States and United King...
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 formally withdrew from the treaty; after the requisite two years, Mexico ceased to be a signatory in September 2004.

See also

  • Military alliance
  • United States-Latin American relations
    United States-Latin American relations

    The United States has always had a special conception of its relationship with the nations of Latin America....