Editing New Imperialism (section)

===Chilean expansion===
Chile's interest in expanding into the [[Pacific Islands|islands of the Pacific Ocean]] dates to the presidency of [[José Joaquín Prieto]] (1831–1841) and the ideology of [[Diego Portales]], who considered that Chile's expansion into Polynesia was a natural consequence of its maritime destiny.{{sfn|Barros|1970|p=497}}{{efn-ua|According to economist Neantro Saavedra-Rivano: "Of all Latin American countries, Chile has been the most explicit and consistent throughout its history in expressing its vocation as a Pacific nation and acting in accordance with this conception."{{sfn|Saavedra-Rivano|1993|p=193}}}} Nonetheless, the first stage of the country's expansionism into the Pacific began only a decade later, in 1851, when—in response to an American incursion into the [[Juan Fernández Islands]]—Chile's government formally organized the islands into a subdelegation of [[Valparaíso]].{{sfn|Barros|1970|pp=213–214}} That same year, Chile's economic interest in the Pacific were renewed after  its [[Merchant navy|merchant fleet]] briefly succeeded in creating an agricultural goods exchange market that connected the [[California]]n port of [[San Francisco]] with [[Australia]].{{sfn|Barros|1970|p=213}} By 1861, Chile had established a lucrative enterprise across the Pacific, its [[Chilean peso|national currency]] abundantly circulating throughout Polynesia and its merchants trading in the markets of [[Tahiti]], [[New Zealand]], [[Tasmania]], and [[Shanghai]]; negotiations were also made with the [[Captaincy General of the Philippines|Spanish Philippines]], and altercations reportedly occurred between Chilean and American whalers in the [[Sea of Japan]]. This period ended as a result of the [[Bombardment of Valparaíso|Chilean merchant fleet's destruction]] by Spanish forces in 1866, during the [[Chincha Islands War]].{{sfn|Barros|1970|p=214}}

Chile's Polynesian aspirations would again be awakened in the aftermath of the country's decisive victory against Peru in the [[War of the Pacific]], which left the Chilean fleet as the dominant maritime force in the Pacific coast of the Americas.{{sfn|Barros|1970|p=497}} Valparaíso had also become the most important port in the Pacific coast of South America, providing Chilean merchants with the capacity to find markets in the Pacific for its new mineral wealth acquired from the Atacama.{{sfn|Delsing|2012|p=56}} During this period, the Chilean intellectual and politician [[Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna]] (who served as senator in the [[National Congress of Chile|National Congress]] from 1876 to 1885) was an influential voice in favor of Chilean expansionism into the Pacific—he considered that Spain's discoveries in the Pacific had been stolen by the British, and envisioned that Chile's duty was to create an empire in the Pacific that would reach [[Asia]].{{sfn|Barros|1970|p=497}} In the context of this imperialist fervor is that, in 1886, Captain [[Policarpo Toro]] of the [[Chilean Navy]] proposed to his superiors the annexation of [[Easter Island]]; a proposal which was supported by President [[José Manuel Balmaceda]] because of the island's apparent strategic location and economic value. After Toro transferred the rights to the island's sheep ranching operations from Tahiti-based businesses to the Chilean-based [[Williamson-Balfour Company]] in 1887, Easter Island's annexation process was culminated with the signing of the "Agreement of Wills" between Rapa Nui chieftains and Toro, in name of the Chilean government, in 1888.<ref>See:
* {{harvnb|Delsing|2012|p=56}}
* {{harvnb|Saavedra-Rivano|1993|p=193}}</ref> By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations.<ref name="sater">William Sater, ''Chile and the United States: Empires in Conflict'', 1990 by the University of Georgia Press, {{ISBN|0-8203-1249-5}}</ref>{{rp|page=53}}