http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/795448028

Nazis and good neighbors : the United States campaign against the Germans of Latin America in World War II

Perceiving an urgent security threat from the German population residing in Latin America on the eve of World War II, the Roosevelt administration organized the arrest, deportation, and internment in the United States of some 4000 German nationals from fifteen countries. Nazi activists had attracted a following and subdued resistance in the overseas German communities, but most expatriates--and most of the internees--were not the menacing potential subversives US officials believed them to be. Instead, Washington's traditional patronizing approach toward Latin America, which it viewed as a vulnerable area subject to manipulation by outside powers, contributed to the exaggeration of the German threat. So did sensationalist news reports and inaccurate intelligence assessments. Moreover, Germany's aggressive trade policy made it an increasingly important rival in a region US manufacturers considered their natural and indispensable market. FDR's Good Neighbor policy promised noninterference in the internal affairs of Latin American countries. The pressure exerted upon Latin American governments to force them to yield their German residents shows that the US abandoned noninterference while Roosevelt was still in office.

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