The Latin American Section was established as a partial successor to Special War Policies Unit (SWPU) on August 28, 1943. The Latin Section acted as the technical legal staff of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

representative on the Emergency Advisory Committee for Political Defense, also known as the Inter-American Advisory Committee for Political Defense. The committee was created as an advisory body by Resolution XVII of the Third Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, held at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in January 1942. The Resolution provided that the Governing Board of the

Pan American Union The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

(PAU) consult the Governments of the American Republics, determine the functions of the committee, prepare the regulations for governing its activities, and fix its budget of expenditures. The report of the Special Committee of the Governing Board of the PAU was approved by the Board at its session on February 25, 1942, and was sent to the 21 Governments with the proposed regulations. The Governing Board gave approval of these two documents on April 6, 1942, and named the Governments of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

to be members of the Committee who would represent the 21 nations. Carl B. Spaeth and William Sanders were successively members from the United States. In each country a liaison officer was named to serve the members of the Committee headquartered in Montevideo. Lawrence A. Knapp, Special Assistant to the Attorney General, was Liaison Office for the United States. Miguel A. de Capriles, Special Assistant to the Attorney General, was assigned to the staff of the Liaison Officer for the United States. He also served as Assistant Chief of the Latin American Section. The Committee for Political Defense attempted to establish a solid front of the Americas against common external dangers. The Committee recommended ways that the Governments of the Americas, acting individually and as a group, could prevent invasions by Axis powers or their nationals, agents, or sympathizers. The section was terminated with War Division, December 28, 1945.

Sources

* National Archives and Records Administration

External links

Third Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, held at Rio de Janeiro, January 15-28, 1942
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latin American Section United States Department of State History of the government of the United States Politics of World War II World War II espionage Latin American history