Latin America

The United States’ reputation in Latin America is ill-defined.  In some aspects we are much respected and our services as the hegemonic enforcer of all things good are very welcomed.  Though in a contrasting light we are seen as a militaristic intruder with not the slightest idea of humanitarian intentions.  I find myself pondering this subject quite often because of my taste for leisurely activities that are inherently Latin American; i.e. a good cigar, fine wine, and bold coffee.  Questions I often ask myself include but are not limited to “What are Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, Cubans, Argentinians, and Venezuelans immediate connotation of the United States?” and “If it is initially bad what is the primary cause for that, whether it be a past or current government policy or economic doctrine, and how can we move forward and create good relations with a majority of the people?”  This is very complex as you might be able to tell.  It encompasses a large sample size with an either black or white answer.  Well, you might say to this, nobody likes the United States that isn’t in the United States and a majority of the people in the United States don’t even like the United States.  Well I would say you’ve been watching too much lamestream media, which exerts the negativity bias of enticing viewership.  Yes, many, if not most, media outlets only focus on negative themes, including local outlets.  It is much more pronounced on national outlets though.  If we look away from the screens we’ll see a brilliant world of cooperation and trade, mixing of culture, and sharing interests. 

In the 19^th Century the United States enacted the Monroe Doctrine as a formal warning to European government’s interventions in the Western Hemisphere.  Over the course the next couple of decades, European coercion evolved from puppet monarchs and colonization to financial exploitation.  It was President Roosevelt who jumped in front of this with the Roosevelt Corollary, an addition to the Monroe Doctrine to ensure protection for Latin American countries from ill-willed governments or corporations from establishing excessive footholds on the basis of bad financial discipline.  Although it’s easy to conclude the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary became justification for 20^th century interventions and US-backed coup’s, these policies are rooted in good intentions with the building blocks of democracy in mind for our Latin American neighbors, suchlike free-trade, upward control, and social freedom. 

In the 20^th Century many Latin American countries found themselves victim to the oil curse.  A controversial political theory more commonly known as the Resource Curse, but is more pronounced in countries that find themselves sitting atop oil, so we’ll call it the oil curse. It is exactly as it sounds; countries with excess natural resources that focus their economy around said natural resource are cursed to experience more corruption and therefore more social spillover effects of corruption like excessive poverty, rampant inequality, crime waves, and humanitarian violations.  One Venezuelan leader, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, famously referred to oil as “the devil’s excrement.” Latin American Countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia felt the harshest side of this curse, and subsequently the United States took action via intervention, seen by many as overtly authoritarian, however the interventions true purpose was and still is, to make order of the chaos created by the oil curse and other dire economic issues. 

Current issues facing Latin America are Argentina’s many defaults on sovereign debt and disparity between the parties on the restructuring thereof, Venezuelan’s repressive regime led by Nicolas Maduro, the high crime crates in Central America, and of course the magnification of global crises because these nations are still considered emerging economies, so the covid-19 and resulting financial catastrophe hit them especially hard.  Though they don’t get much attention in the lamestream media, I try my best to keep up with our southern neighbors in the hopes that one day I’ll be a diplomat for increasing trade in the Premium Tobacco industry with Cuba or Ecuador, or perhaps own a vineyard in Argentina, or be a representative for the people of Colombia for Starbucks.  We can all dream right?