As I see it | Monroe Doctrine 2.0 portends the end of the US empire
The eerie return of the 19th century foreign policy doctrine indicates a declining empire seeking to consolidate power in its own backyard
Washington warns that enemy groups south of the border are terrorising nearby areas and causing trouble. Military actions would be taken to deal with the problem, including sending the US military into the territories of another sovereign country, which is being blamed for failing to control drug cartels.
More than two centuries ago, in 1817, the Monroe White House complained that Seminole people were terrorising the border areas north of Spanish Florida and sent in troops to crush them. Indigenous American “terror” was the trigger, but Florida was the prize. Two years later, Spain would cede Florida to the United States.
Mexico’s independence from Spain was gained in phases throughout the 1810s, culminating in 1821. After its war with the US in the late 1840s, Mexico lost Texas, New Mexico and California. US history may not be repeating, but it’s at least rhyming today.
“We’re very friendly with [Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum], she’s a good woman,” Trump told Fox News after the operation against Maduro. “But the cartels are running Mexico. She’s not running Mexico … she’s very frightened of the cartels … And I’ve asked her numerous times, ‘Would you like us to take out the cartels?’ … Something is gonna have to be done with Mexico.”
