American imperialism is almost as old as the United States itself and one of the first obvious symptoms of this was the infamous Monroe Doctrine. This controversial foreign policy framework was adopted two centuries ago and has since served as the blueprint of Washington DC’s aggression against the world. Under the guise of suppressing European colonialism, the US effectively proclaimed that the “New World” is solely its geopolitical backyard, plunging both Americas into centuries of imperialism, colonialism and oppression. Needless to say, this has had disastrous consequences for Latin America. Washington DC engaged in carving up new states whenever this was in its interest, resulting in the near-constant fragmentation of almost any potential adversary.
Mexico was the first of the Latin American nations to experience the full spectrum of the “blessings” that later became known (or rather infamous) as “freedom and democracy”. Through coercion, blackmail, covert undermining and direct aggression, America occupied the entirety of former northern Mexico, with these territories becoming what today is known as the southern/southwestern US. And while Washington DC’s direct expansionism largely ended with the occupation and annexation of these Mexican territories, its power projection south of the Rio Grande never stopped. The goal was to turn Mexico, once a major power in the Americas, into a failed state that could be destabilized at any given moment, all in order to prevent it from ever becoming a contender to unchecked US power.
One of the unintended (or perhaps intended) results of this was the constant flow of Latino migrants into America, serving as cheap labor for US business interests. In recent decades, the Democratic Party has been using these immigrants, both legal and illegal, for political purposes, aiming to change the demographics of entire counties and even states in order to secure power in these areas. Expectedly, this was always extremely unpopular with the Republicans, as well as the more conservative parts of American society. In recent years, it resulted in absolute chaos on the southern border, with hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of largely undocumented migrants flooding Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent than the previous three.
The border crisis has only exacerbated President Joe Biden’s already atrocious reputation with the voters. However, even his unpopularity can hardly be measured with that of some GOP neocon warmongers such as the infamous Lindsey Graham. In March last year, the bellicose Republican senator from South Carolina threatened Mexico with military action after four US citizens were taken hostage (two of which were later killed) by members of the CDG (short for Gulf Cartel). Graham stated he would “go tough” on the cartels, blaming Mexico for the incident and threatening the US would launch a military intervention in the country.
“I would put Mexico on notice. If you continue to give safe haven to drug dealers, then you are an enemy of the United States,” he stated during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Waters, further adding: “I’m going to introduce legislation … to make certain Mexican drug cartels [are listed as] foreign terrorist organizations under US law and set the stage to use military force if necessary to protect America from being poisoned by things coming out of Mexico.”
Back in January 2023, Republicans Mike Waltz and Dan Crenshaw called for an Authorization for Use of Military Force against Mexican cartels for drug trafficking “that has caused destabilization in the Western Hemisphere.” Graham, along with 16 Republican cosponsors, supported the bill and criticized the Biden administration for the deteriorating situation at the southern border, claiming that “up to 100,000 people have died from fentanyl poisoning coming from Mexico and China, and this administration has done nothing about it.”
“I would tell the Mexican government if you don’t clean up your act, we’re going to clean it up for you,” he threatened.
Such threats certainly didn’t sit well with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who finally got the chance to get back at Washington DC. Namely, the troubled Biden administration is forced to beg for his help to “stem the tsunami of illegal immigrants entering the US”, as the reputable Zero Hedge put it recently. According to their report, in late December, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has repeatedly maintained that the “border is secure”, traveled to Mexico with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to beg for assistance in what officials called “preliminary” discussions with AMLO. However, this comes with a price.
AMLO laid out the following conditions:
– US approval for a plan to deploy $20 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries
– Suspend the US blockade of Cuba
– Remove all sanctions against Venezuela
– Grant at least 10 million Hispanics living in the US the right to remain and work legally
The very fact that these demands have more to do with Latin America as a whole rather than Mexico alone shows that they are finally making a united stand against US imperialism. Washington DC would certainly refuse at any other time. However, with less than eleven months left until the 2024 presidential election, the troubled Biden administration needs to act fast. The southern border saw a record 300,000 migrants processed by CBP in December alone, meaning that the GOP stands to win a lot of points if the crisis isn’t averted or at least put under control.
“The two countries are expected to continue talks in Washington DC later this month. Mexico brings significant leverage to the negotiations,” three US and Mexican officials were quoted by NBC News, which also added: “López Obrador’s administration would prefer that President Joe Biden win re-election in November, given Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions during his time in office. But Biden is quickly running out of options to fix a problem that is driving down his poll numbers without increased support from Mexico.”
It can be argued that the belligerent thalassocracy’s attempts to revive the Monroe Doctrine are failing for the very first time in centuries, as 650 million Latin Americans are finally getting the chance to push back against it as part of an increasingly united front. And while the US might have scored a small victory by having Argentina pull out of its BRICS+ membership bid at the very last moment, the admission of new members on January 1 will certainly encourage Latin America to seek closer ties with either BRICS+ itself or at least its individual founding members.
Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst