Trump Sees US as Boss of Americas
US school children used to hear about the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which declared that the Americas were off-limits to European expansion. The US was not strong enough in 1823 to enforce this doctrine, leaving that to the British navy, as if Britain was not really Europe. But in the 20th century, the US was strong enough and interfered in the politics of several American republics especially in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.
Now in the 21st Century we have what some call the “Donroe Doctrine”: if you play ball with Uncle Sam you will get benefits, such as currency bailouts (Argentina), payment for housing US deportees (El Salvador), or just lower tariffs on your exports to the US (Ecuador, Guatemala). If you don’t cooperate with the US, you will be punished with high tariffs (Nicaragua), being called drug traffickers (Colombia), or even threats of invasion (Venezuela). Partially as a result some nations with leftist governments are in the process of changing to rightist regimes with a pro-US stance (Chile, Bolivia, Peru).
The only nations towards which the US has shown some wariness are huge trade partners (Canada and Mexico) or huge countries, period (Mexico 131 million pop., Brazil pop. 203 million).
Sources: The New York Times,11/18/25 and Calendario Atlante de Agostini 2025