ABSTRACT
The first statement about the Americas as a whole came in 1823 from US president James Monroe, who declared unilaterally that the Americas were not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. This incipient idea of hemispheric community was reinforced later by Simón Bolívar who, at the 1826 Congress of Panama, proposed creating a league of American republics with a common military, a mutual defense pact, and a supranational parliamentary assembly. Bolívar’s dream soon floundered with the withdrawal of Ecuador and Venezuela from “Gran Colombia” and with the disintegration of Central America.1
