There Should Be No More Monroe Doctrine in the Americas

The United States needs to recognize the general tendancy of our times by earnestly respecting the sovereignty and the rights of the people of Latin America and earnestly abiding by the basic principles of international relations. Only in this way can it be possible to establish normal relations with Latin America.

Recently, the U.S. government declassified two documents at Chile’s request. These two documents, as well as previously declassified documents released by the United States, irrefutably prove that the United States was the mastermind behind the Chilean coup 50 years ago. This once again shows that the United States has long regarded Latin America as its “backyard” and has used the Americas as an excuse to exercise its hegemony, arbitrarily intervening militarily and economically in Latin America and causing serious disasters that have affected the people of Latin America.

The two newly declassified U.S. documents were part of the daily presidential briefings prepared by the CIA. The documents showed that the U.S. government not only had advance information about the military coup launched by Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet of the Chilean Army in September 1973, but also provided support for the overthrow. Documents previously declassified by the U.S. National Security Archive also showed that the United States identified then Chilean President Salvador Allende as a threat and used diplomatic, political, economic and other means to obstruct his governance. It also plotted to overthrow the Allende regime through rumors, smear campaigns, secret assassinations and instigating coups.

Fifty years later, the scars left on Chilean society by the coup have not yet healed. When Chilean President Gabriel Boric attended an event to commemorate the victims of the coup in Santiago a few days ago, he said that the coup brought about many painful experiences and had left a deep mark on generations of Chileans. But the U.S. government has, to this day, shown no remorse, let alone apologized. The U.S. State Department even said in a statement recently that the declassification of the documents “is consistent with our joint efforts to promote democracy and human rights in our own countries and around the world.”

So how does the United States “promote democracy and human rights” in Latin America? In 1823, the United States issued the Monroe Doctrine, claiming that the American continents were for the people of the Americas. In reality, however, it meant the U.S. regarded the Americas as the exclusive backyard of Americans. President Theodore Roosevelt once publicly declared that in order to pursue the Monroe Doctrine, the United States would “exercise international police power.” In the 200 years since the Monroe Doctrine was proposed, the United States has used various means to seize natural resources in Latin America, has destroyed the economies of countries in Latin America and interfered in their internal affairs, leading to economic recession, social unrest and increasing inequality. A study by Harvard University revealed that from 1898 to 1994, in less than 100 years’ time, the American government planned and implemented at least 41 coups in Latin America, equivalent to one every 28 months. Even to this day, the legacy of the Monroe Doctrine remains. The United States frequently imposes sanctions and suppressive measures on so-called disobedient countries in Latin America and also attempts to use these countries as pawns in conflicts between different camps, forcing them to choose sides. Gabriel Merino, a professor at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, pointed out that countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have been deeply harmed by U.S. hegemony.

The United States’ so-called efforts to “promote democracy and human rights” cannot cover up the harm caused by the Monroe Doctrine to countries in Latin America. American dominance has also attracted increasingly more resistance and rejection in Latin America. At the Ninth Summit of the Americas hosted in the United States last year, the U.S. tried to use its home court advantage to reinvent its leadership position in the Americas. However, because the United States refused to invite the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, leaders of many countries in Latin America openly boycotted the session. A commentary on Foreign Policy’s website pointed out that a major characteristic of the U.S. when discussing issues about Latin America is ignorant arrogance. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that the Americas should no longer have the Monroe Doctrine, interventionist policies and blockades of other countries, nor should any one country dominate the region.

Currently, the Global South, as a collection of emerging market countries and developing countries, has continued to increase its voice and influence in international affairs, with countries in Latin America also continuing to take new steps to unite and strengthen themselves. The United States needs to recognize the general tendancy of our times by earnestly respecting the sovereignty and people’s rights in Latin America and earnestly abiding by the basic principles of international relations. Only in this way can it be possible to establish normal relations with Latin America.