Trump Seeks Control of Latin America

Trump issued his own corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, attempting to exercise dominion over Latin America

Photo by Leon Overweel on Unsplash

On December 2, 1823, in an address to Congress, US President James Monroe announced the United States’ institution of political order over Latin America, limiting Europe’s role in the Western Hemisphere. The speech would later be expanded into what is now known as the Monroe Doctrine. This longstanding US foreign policy ideal has often been weaponized to exert control over Latin America. More than 200 years later, Trump is expanding on the doctrine.

Let’s take a brief look at how we got here.

According to the Office of the Historian at the Department of State:

“Monroe and his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams drew upon a foundation of American diplomatic ideals such as disentanglement from European affairs and defense of neutral rights as expressed in Washington’s Farewell Address and Madison’s stated rationale for waging the War of 1812. The three main concepts of the doctrine – separate spheres of influence for the Americas and Europe, non-colonization, and non-intervention –were designed to signify a clear break between the New World and the autocratic realm of Europe. Monroe’s administration forewarned the imperial European powers against interfering in the affairs of the newly independent Latin American states or potential United States territories.”

While the “non-colonization” and “non-intervention” aspects sound good on paper, those were directed at European nations, specifically, Spain. At the time, both the US and the United Kingdom also created a bilateral agreement that allowed the Royal Navy to help enforce it. The goal was to push the demise of Spanish colonialism, as both countries had interests in expanding in Latin America. Monroe made that clear: “The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.”

That’s quite the caveat. One that US President Theodore Roosevelt would exploit in his annual messages to Congress in 1904 and 1905. At the time, many European nations sought to use force to pressure Latin American countries to repay their debts. After the British, German, and Italian boats blockaded Venezuela’s ports in 1902, many in the government feared that the power the US had in the region would wane. Roosevelt exploited those fears to exact even more control over Latin America by asserting that the United States had the responsibility to preserve order and protect life and property in those countries.

In his 1904 speech, Roosevelt said:

“Chronic wrongdoing...may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.”

This opened the door to easily make allegations of wrongdoing and convince the public that the United States should involve itself in the internal affairs of other nations, in what many refer to as the US’s backyard. The idea of the US being an “international police power” was popularized by Roosevelt to “put an end to chronic unrest or wrongdoing in the Western Hemisphere,” according to the US National Archives. Since then, the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine has been used to justify US interventions in the Western Hemisphere.

Now, the Trump administration is taking it a step further with its own “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, expanding on it and the Roosevelt Corollary even more, saying, “That the American people – not foreign nations nor globalist institutions – will always control their own destiny in our hemisphere.” Like the previous assertions by Monroe and Roosevelt, Trump’s message further attempts to claim ownership of Latin American and Caribbean nations based on the notion of a domestic agenda.

While the so-called Trump Corollary didn’t come in an address to Congress and instead was a meager 391 words posted on the White House website, it signals the White House’s intent for the region. It establishes its foreign policy directives and shows us precisely what’s motivating the administration to target Latin America in this latest round of using dominion over others to extract valuable resources, steal a nation’s wealth, and bolster US corporate interests.

“In the centuries since, President Monroe’s doctrine of sovereignty has guarded the American continents against communism, fascism, and foreign infringement, and as the 47th President of the United States, I am proudly reasserting this time-honored policy. Since I took office, I have aggressively pursued an America First policy of peace through strength. We restored U.S. privileged access through the Panama Canal. We are reestablishing American maritime dominance. We are disrupting non-market practices in the international supply chain and logistics sectors.”

The language is clear, and it’s intentional. Words like “sovereignty” and phrases such as “aggressively pursued an America First policy” and “peace through strength” are meant to fire up his white Christian nationalist base. Trump invoked the narrative that he’s “halting the flow of deadly drugs flowing through Mexico” while also targeting countries with minimal drug trafficking, letting major drug traffickers go free through presidential pardons, and supporting countries whose leaders allegedly have ties to drug smuggling operations in Europe. However, he fails to address the real problem: drug addiction at home, which he’s done nothing to address.

Meanwhile, what it means for Latin America is an unstable future as the US attempts to continue on its imperialist path over countries holding massive wealth.

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I’m an independent journalist digging deeper into the stories you see on the news. Find my work at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, Orinoco Tribune, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a donation via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.