Esno Thesis: For Freedom and Free Enterprise: The Origins, Development, and Legacies of Ronald Reagan’s Caribbean Basin Initiative

History graduate student Tyler P. Esno’s master’ thesis on “For Freedom and Free Enterprise: The Origins, Development, and Legacies of Ronald Reagan’s Caribbean Basin Initiative” was published on OhioLINK in 2012.

Abstract: In 1982, Ronald Reagan unveiled the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). CBI was an aid, trade, and investment program intended to foster economic growth in the Caribbean Basin, thereby alleviating the socio-economic misery that led Basin people to embrace Communism. Although Reagan claimed the program was an urgent priority, it took Congress two sessions to pass CBI, and it had mixed economic results. This study uncovers the origins of CBI, the reasons Congress hesitated to act, and CBI’s impact. CBI was the Reagan administration’s response to Communist expansion in the Basin, and conservative think tanks and Reagan’s political philosophy shaped the initiative. In Congress, CBI became entangled in debates over the administration’s controversial Central American policies and fears that the initiative would hurt the U.S. economy during a severe economic recession. Although CBI had mixed economic results, it increased U.S. economic and political dominance in the region.