Final answer:
Before 1898, U.S. objectives in Latin America focused on safeguarding economic interests, expanding influence, and excluding European powers. These objectives were pursued through policies such as the Monroe Doctrine and the Good Neighbor Policy, which embraced means from diplomacy to military interventions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The permanent long-term U.S. objectives in Latin America before 1898 generally revolved around ensuring political stability for American economic interests, expanding influence, and preventing European powers, especially the declining Spanish Empire, from maintaining or regaining control. To achieve these ends, successive U.S. governments employed a variety of approaches, including the Monroe Doctrine, which asserted U.S. opposition to European colonialism in the Americas.
This policy eventually morphed into the Big Stick Diplomacy, which relied on displaying U.S. power to deter foreign intervention, while the Good Neighbor Policy of the 1930s tried to foster cooperative relations through non-intervention. Some of the methods utilized included diplomatic pressure, economic investments, and, in some cases, military intervention or threats thereof.
By the end of the 19th century, the United States had begun to acquire territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam, further entrenching its presence and signaling a period of American imperialism. The notion of Manifest Destiny, which suggested that the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable, also underpinned U.S. actions and policy decisions in the region.