North American Landscapes-Pan American Landscapes: Theodore Roosevelt's Trip to Northern of Patagonia (1913)

ZUSMAN, P

Washington D.C.

Conferencia; Annual Conference.Association of American Geographers; 2010

Association of American Geographers

Over the 19th century, exercising a political and economic influence over South America was a hard enterprise for the United States.  Hence, US leaders encouraged some of their intellectuals and politicians to visit the Southern region with the intention to develop a ?common worldview?. It is within this framework that the 1913 trip to the Southern Cone by Theodore Roosevelt, former US President (1901-1909), can be understood. During this visit, two moments can be distinguished. The first one corresponds to the interchange with some representatives of the Argentine liberal elite who advocated Argentina´s position at Pan-Americanist conferences. The second moment corresponds to Roosevelt´s visit to the North of Andean Patagonia.  Roosevelt´s dialogues with Francisco Pascacio Moreno, led to promoting conservationism politics as a source of civilization and national reaffirmation in territories recently appropriated. In this way, conservationism politics was incorporated into the unofficial agenda of Pan-Americanism.