ABSTRACT
The United States got Panama to break away from Colombia in 1903, and then built the Panama Canal (72). Other small ex-Spanish states in the region also became, in effect, protectorates of the US, which, until the 1930s, repeatedly sent troops to stop civil wars or restore order. Several of these states became notorious for oppressive military or right-wing rule (Costa Rica, which has no army, is a notable exception). In 1954 a leftist government in Guatemala was ousted by rightist exiles who, with American backing, launched an invasion from Honduras. In 1965, US forces were sent to stop a civil war in the Dominican Republic, but were soon replaced by troops from other OAS countries (74), who also withdrew after elections had been held.
