INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

OF THE CARIBBEAN

Hispanic Caribbean

Dr. Jacqueline LAGUARDIA MARTINEZ

Main objectives

1. To discuss the influences of the Spanish domination in the Caribbean

2. To establish what can be considered the Hispanic/Spanish Caribbean today

The European arrival: impacts

1. The Caribbean participated early in the development of capitalism as a world system of production, trade, accumulation, investment.

2. The Americas were incorporated to the capitalist economy as colonies

3. The Caribbean area functioned as an extension of the European powers' dispute territory. (Boundaries of empires).

4. Fragmentation

5. Extermination of population and cultures

“En el año 1492 cuando llegaron los europeos al Caribe, las dos ciudades más pobladas del mundo se llamaban Tenochtitlan y Pekín, y, según lo que sé, ninguna de ellas se encontraba en Europa de manera que llamarse descubrimiento a la llegada de un grupo de europeos a un continente donde había millones de habitantes es una aberración. En realidad, merece ser llamado un cubrimiento de la historia verdadera”.

Roberto Fernández Retamar. “Por el Bicentenario de la Independencia de Haití”. Revista Honda de la Sociedad Cultural José Martí. La Habana, 2003.

“In 1492 when the Europeans arrived to the Caribbean, the two most populous cities in the world were called Tenochtitlan and Beijing, and, as far as I know, none of them was in Europe; so to describe as a discovery the arrival of a group of European to a continent where there were millions of people is an aberration. It really deserves to be describe as the covering of the real story.”

DISCOVERING?

The Spanish colonization

1. Hegemony of Spain in the Caribbean until the first third of the seventeenth century

2. The Caribbean was used as a “bridge” to go to the mainland

3. Development of an economy based on factories and later established settlement colonies

4. Use of native and foreign slave work force

5. Diffusion of the Catholic religion

6. Establishment of a monopolist trade regime (mercantilism)

EspañaSpain

The Fleet System

Arrival from SpainDeparture to Spain

LA HABANA (Cuba)SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico)

CARTAGENA (Colombia)

EL CALLAO (Perú)

PANAMÁ (Panamá)

VERACRUZ (México)

SEVILLA (Spain)

• Pirates attacks on Spanish ships during oceanic voyages

• Pirates attacks to coastal areas in the Spanish colonies

• Settlements in the Spanish territories

• Open war

European metropolis vs. Spanish domination in the Caribbean

Colonial Wars

English-American

Portugal

French

English

Dutch

Attack Lines

FortressesConfrontation zones

SpainEngland

FranceHolland

SpainEngland

France

HollandSweden

San BartelemiSuecia.

Torre del Homenaje

(Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominicana)

San Felipe el Morro (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas (Cartagena, Colombia)

San Juan de Ulúa (Veracruz, México)San Juan de Ulúa (Veracruz, México)

Havana, one of the main cities in the Spanish fleet system

Castillo de La Fuerza

(La Habana, Cuba)

SAN SALVADOR DE LA PUNTA (La Habana, Cuba)

Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (La Habana, Cuba)

Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (La Habana, Cuba)

Catedral de Santo Domingo

Which territories are part of the

Hispanic Caribbean?

Question for debate

?

Hispanic Caribbean1. Colombia

2. Costa Rica

3. Cuba

4. Guatemala

5. Honduras

6. México

7. Nicaragua

8. Panamá

9. Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado)

10.República Dominicana

11.Venezuela

How “Caribbean” is the Hispanic

Caribbean?

Question for debate

?

http://www.caribjournal.com/2013/10/22/ranking-caribbean-countries-by-population-density/

Ranking Caribbean Countries By Population Density

October 22, 2013 | 6:00 am |

Bibliography1. Roberto Fernández Retamar, “Bicentenario de la

Independencia de Haití”, Havana, September 26, 2003

2. Alejo Carpentier “La cultura de los pueblos que habitan en las tierras del Mar Caribe”, in Anales del Caribe, Havana, 1981

3. Simón Bolívar, Discurso ante el Congreso de Angostura, February, 15, 1819

4. José Martí, “Nuestra América”, in La Revista Ilustrada, New York, January, 1891

5. Gabriel García Márquez, “Fantasía y creación artística en América Latina y el Caribe”, in Voces. Arte y literatura, No 2, San Francisco, March, 1998

6. Norman Girvan, “The Caribbean and Cuba: Cuba and the Caribbean: A Reflection”