A Rockefeller Foundation Health Primer for US-Occupied Nicaragua, 1914–1928

Abstract

The article presents views from above and below of the Rockefeller Foundation's International Health Commission's (IHC's) hookworm control program in Nicaragua from 1914 to 1928. It looks at the meaning, impact, and unique configuration of the Nicaraguan mission, while taking into account the larger global institutional project of this important international health actor. Although the IHC program in Nicaragua complemented some of the social policy goals of the US intervention in Nicaragua, which was a de facto protectorate during this period, the institution cannot be considered a direct expression or agent of US foreign policy. Ultimately the shape and limits of the IHC mission to Nicaragua were determined by the institutional project of the international public health agency itself, and by local considerations ranging from the characteristics of the staff to the response of rural communities to the anti-hookworm campaigns.

National Democratic Revolution

“…During the US military occupation of Nicaragua from 1912 to 1926, nonmilitary elements of imperialism developed. For example, the Rockefeller Center, funded through the Standard Oil monopoly, began sanitation drives that accompanied US military activities with rural census taking, hiring of local volunteers, and public meetings on hookworm control and prevention (Peña Torres and Palmer 2008). This is one of the first examples of a nongovernmental organization riding on the coattails of the US military.…”