Alexander Aviña on the "Donroe" Doctrine & US Intervention in Latin America

The "Donroe Doctrine" and US Hegemony

• 🎯 The Trump administration's "Donroe Doctrine" signifies a tightening of U.S. control over the Americas, particularly amid perceived U.S. global weakness.
• 💡 The Monroe Doctrine, initially an anti-colonial statement, has evolved into a justification for U.S. political and military interventions in Latin America.
• 🇺🇸 The U.S. empire in Latin America is a bipartisan project, with methods of enforcement varying across administrations.

Historical Context of Intervention

• 🗺️ Latin America has historically served as an "imperial laboratory" for the U.S. to refine its tactics and assert dominance.
• 🏛️ The Roosevelt Corollary transformed the U.S. into an "international police power" over the Americas, leading to numerous military interventions.
• ✊ U.S. intervention aims to prevent or suppress Latin American assertions of sovereignty and self-determination.

International and Internal Weakness

• 📉 The "Donroe Doctrine" can be seen as an assertion of power stemming from U.S. international weakness and concessions to rivals like China.
• 🗣️ The need to continuously assert power and dominance online and in public appearances can itself be a sign of underlying weakness.
• 🤝 Trump's rhetoric aims to coalesce a fractious internal political coalition within the U.S.

Rejection of Intervention

• 🇨🇴 Leaders like Colombia's Gustavo Petro have vowed to resist U.S. threats, even invoking the possibility of taking up arms.
• 🇲🇽 Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum firmly rejects intervention, stating that it has never brought democracy, well-being, or stability.
• ⚖️ Intervention is seen as a violation of Latin American sovereignty, with the U.S. often using charges like narco-terrorism to justify actions.

Overthrowing Sovereign Leaders

• 💥 Whether a leader is democratically elected or not, if deemed an obstacle to U.S. imperial designs, they are subject to overthrow or destabilization.
• 🔄 Historical examples like the coups in Guatemala (1954) and Chile (1973) illustrate the U.S. pattern of intervening against leaders enacting land reform or pursuing independent policies.