Francisco de Paula Santander and Haiti, 1824–5: Non-solidarity, neocolonialism, and the Haitian Revolution in the origins of Latin American international law

Abstract

Abstract This paper contests the neglect of the non-solidarity of the new Latin American republics as a causal factor in the international isolation of Haiti during the early nineteenth century, and the consequent imposition of European neocolonialism in the region. Moreover, in doing so, the paper also unearths the historically ambiguous relationships of non-intervention and regionalist internationalism to empire in Latin America. Whereas these two principles have since been recognized by scholars as key, anti-imperialist features of Latin American international law, this paper argues that, in the context of Colombian–Haitian (dis)engagement during the mid-1820s, they were used to legitimize the refusal of anticolonial solidarity to Haiti when it was needed most, thereby enabling French and wider European imperialism.