In 1823, James Monroe told European nations that they had no right to interfere in the Western Hemisphere. The US wanted the European colonizers and shadow governments out. And conceptually that sounds like a good thing, except the problem was the US government wanted to replace those shadow governments with their own.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the US then used this policy to gain control as the policing force for the Western Hemisphere. In 1904, President Theodore Rosevelt stated that it was an “international power police,” and pretty much acted like that until today.
And with this power, has the US government spread peace, love, and democracy. The answer is no. Through this policy, the US has been responsible for many military coups and shadow governments throughout the Americas. (https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=23#)
Below is a short video that outlines just some of the damage that these interventionist policies have had, specifically in how they effected the current crisis in Venezuela.
If you would like to learn more about the practices associated with the Monroe Doctrine in general, this timeline from North Carolina State University and this KCET timeline are a good place to start. To learn more about how these practices have affected health care in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba, go to the next post!
Thank you for reading!
Landscapes of Health 