EXPLANER
The American attack on Venezuela evokes the Monroe Doctrine, developed in 1823 by the American president at the time to cement Washington’s sphere of influence on the American continent.
United States President Donald Trump tried to justify the attack on Venezuela and Washington imposing its will in Latin America by citing a policy of a 19th century president.
Trump on Saturday called the raid that led to the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro an update of the Monroe Doctrine, the 1823 declaration of America’s fifth president, James Monroe, adding that the United States “will lead the country” until “a safe, proper and wise transition” can be made.
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“The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’re way past it. They call it the Donroe Document now,” Trump said, attaching the first letter of his name to the set of principles.
“American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never again be challenged,” he added.
Here’s what you need to know about the Monroe Doctrine:
What is this 19th century American policy?
The Monroe Doctrine essentially advocated the division of the world into spheres of influence overseen by different powers.
Monroe first spoke about the doctrine on December 2, 1823, during his seventh annual State of the Union address to Congress, although the doctrine was not named in his honor until decades later.
He warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Americas, emphasizing that any such action would be considered an attack on the United States.
The president said the affairs of the Western Hemisphere and Europe must remain separate and must not influence each other.
How the doctrine approached the colonization of the Americas
He promised in return that the United States would recognize and not interfere in existing European colonies or the internal affairs of European countries.
However, North and South America will not be subject to future colonization by any European power, Monroe said.
In many ways, the Monroe Doctrine advocated maintaining the status quo in the Americas, but also dictated disengagement from Europe.
In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, affirming the right of the United States to intervene in Latin American countries to prevent European interference, particularly in matters of debt or instability, in order to maintain stability and protect Washington’s interests in the Western Hemisphere.
That year, as European creditors threatened several Latin American countries, Roosevelt declared that the United States had the right and responsibility to become involved in accordance with the doctrine.
Roosevelt’s corollary was formulated in the aftermath of the Venezuelan crisis of 1902-1903, when the country refused to pay its foreign debts.
How has the United States enforced this over the past few decades?
Over the next decades, the evolved Monroe Doctrine served as justification for U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua.
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan took an aggressive approach to the region, which his critics called “imperialist.” In Nicaragua, he supported the right-wing Contras against the left-wing Sandinista government and dragged the United States into the Iran-Contra arms trafficking scandal. He also supported right-wing governments accused of atrocities in El Salvador and Guatemala.
Cuba has long been under intense pressure from the United States since Fidel Castro’s revolution, both militarily and economically and under harsh sanctions that still exist today.
There were also reports of attempted coups against Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, before his death in 2013.
