Death of the Monroe Doctrine?

An interesting development, and one that shouldn’t be as scary as it sounds. But nonetheless brings into question the ability of the United States to maintain the 185-year-old Monroe Doctrine.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday said it was time for Russia to rebuild links with former Cold War ally Cuba, news agencies reported.

The Kremlin is angry at U.S. plans for a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, and last month a news report suggested Russia might use Cuba, a thorn in America’s side for half a century, as a refueling stop for nuclear-capable bombers.

The Russian Defence Ministry denied the report and said it had no plans to open any military bases abroad, but a top U.S. general was drawn to say such a move would cross a “red line”.

Moscow was the Caribbean island’s key oil, arms and grain supplier for 30 years, until subsidies propping up the economy of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary government fell to a trickle and then dried up entirely after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We need to reestablish positions on Cuba and in other countries,” news agency Interfax quoted Putin as saying at the weekly presidium meeting of key government ministers.

Full article here.

The bigger issue from an American interest point of view is that we are losing Latin America. If we were to revise our childish policy towards Cuba, it’s likely they would choose us over Russia. But, with Chavez now giving out four times as much humanitarian aid in the region than the U.S., and Russia thinking about puting its petrodollars to work in the area, the U.S. is on the brink of allowing the Monroe Doctrine to die.

Not that that would be all bad, America’s predetermined right to reign over the Western Hemisphere has long been challenged, not only from the outside, but from within the countries involved. However, with Chavez seeking a military alliance with Russia and Russia thinking about reestablishing bases in the hemisphere we are seeing a serious shift in the balance.

At the end of the day, its pretty clear that things have chanced in the last 185 years. Latin America has grown up and countries like Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico are powers in their own right that aren’t necessarily still raving about the old doctrine of keeping foreign powers from colonizing the area so that the U.S. can do it itself.

The United States is no longer the authority in the hemisphere, and while I don’t necessarily support fighting to keep any and all non-American influence out, I do think we should be conscious of the fact that the our friends to the South are drifting away from us, and possibly take steps to better pan American relations.