One of the main goals of the United States foreign policy during World War II was to identify opportunities and open up markets for investment in the Latin American Republics. The control of commercial aviation was crucial and towards that end, the Department of State developed a vast campaign against companies that were in the hands of Axis interests, accusing them of carrying out espionage activities and contraband, and exerting pressure over national governments to obtain their collaboration. This article examines the effects of American policy over LATI, an Italian state airline who flied from Rome to Brazil, which came under diplomatic fire in 1941, until it was finally evicted from the Brazilian air space in 1942.
LATI; World War II; American foreign policy