A group of five Democratic lawmakers introduced a resolution before Congress seeking for the United States to formally end the "Monroe Doctrine," a foreign policy position articulated by then-President James Monroe, which unilaterally placed Latin America and the Caribbean under its sphere of influence.
Two centuries from the speech that marked the beginning of the policy and defined most of the 20th century in the region, the group of lawmakers, which includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, introduced the document. According to Spanish outlet El País, it demands the Department of State "formally" leaves the doctrine behind.
"From drug trafficking to mass migration to climate change, the many shared challenges between the United States and Latin America cannot be addressed by the antiquated Monroe Doctrine. These are some of the most pressing issues of our time, and they call for a process that stresses respect and cooperation," said New York Representative Nydia Velázquez about the resolution. The other three lawmakers involved are Greg Casar (Texas), and Delia Ramirez and Chuy Garcia (both from Illinois).
The document also seeks for the doctrine to be replaced by a "New Good Neighbor" policy, which would seek to "foster improved relations and deepen more effective cooperation with all the countries of the hemisphere."
This entails lifting all unilateral economic sanctions, including the Cuban embargo, "the declassification of all secret CIA files related to coups in the region and support for dictatorships, the approval of laws allowing the automatic suspension of aid to any illegitimate government in the region and support for 'democratization' of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Bank of Development."
The congresspeople are extremely critical of the Organization of American States, saying the entity "remained quiet about the numerous abuses perpetrated by U.S.-backed dictatorships during the Cold War." In that context, it seeks for the "beginning of a collaboration between Washington and the other capitals to launch a wide-ranging reform" of the OAS.
To back its request, the document cites the "the genocide of Native peoples; the invasion of Texas, Cuba and Puerto Rico; the "Banana Wars" of the early 20th century; the founding of the CIA; the coup against Arbenz in Guatemala; the embargo on Cuba; the overthrow of Allende in Chile and Goulart in Brazil; the U.S.-backed Operation Condor between 1975 and 1980; the death squads in El Salvador; the right-wing paramilitary militias in Nicaragua (known as contras) and the rest of the paramilitary operations in Central America."
The lawmakers will seek for the full House to vote on the resolution, but its success is uncertain considering that the decision would need the support of at least some members of the Republican majority.
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