Global Times Investigates: how the US has maintained a power structure over Latin America for 200 years

247 - Latin America will once again experience, at the beginning of 2026, an episode that recalls the oldest warnings in its political history.The United States seems destined by Providence to torment Latin America with misery in the name of freedom.", he wrote Simon Bolivar in a letter from 1829. Almost two centuries later, the fear described by the Venezuelan leader reappears with force in light of the news that US military forces carried out an attack against Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were kidnapped., transporting them to American territory, where both underwent an initial trial.

The assessment is presented in a special report by Global Timeswhich treats the case as more than an isolated event: it would be the logical continuation of a doctrine of power inaugurated in 1823 and updated in contemporary versions. According to experts interviewed by the newspaper, the episode fits into a tradition marked by three major vectors — geopolitical hegemony, economic plunder, and ideological infiltration — which, 200 years ago, would have underpinned the logic of the so-called Latin American "backyard."

This report is part of the second installment of a series in which... Global Times The text claims to "decode" the Monroe Doctrine and expose US "interventionist schemes" in multiple fields. It cites a succession of "bloody" episodes to illustrate what it describes as the workings of three axes of interference in the region, from direct military occupation to the use of sanctions and mechanisms of political influence.

Axis 1: Geopolitical hegemony and militarization

O Global Times The article states that the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president generated severe criticism at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, including from countries that are partners of Washington. Within the US, according to the report, there were mobilizations of protests against the action, citing a Newsweek magazine report that “Anti-war protests are planned in more than 100 cities.".

According to the experts cited, the episode would be merely the latest chapter in a policy of geostrategic imposition sustained by declarations of security, a permanent military presence, and exclusive institutional structures that block regional alternatives. The report recalls that the Monroe Doctrine—summarized in the phrase “America for Americans"— was announced by the then president James Monroe, in 1823, as a theoretical justification for interfering on the continent.

The text suggests that this logic was given a new formulation in the national security document of the president's government. Donald Trump, published in 2025. According to Global TimesThe strategy would have explicitly designated Latin America as a sphere of influence for Washington, a position treated by media outlets and think tanks as "Monroe Doctrine 2.0”, and described as a “raw” and “unapologetic” threat to regional sovereignty.

According to the report, the material support for this axis is the military presence. The text cites the Xinhua news agency to affirm that the US maintains approximately... 76 military bases distributed throughout Latin America. This infrastructure, the article argues, creates the conditions for direct interventions, often supported by pretexts.

As an example, the Global Times It mentions the invasion of Panama in December 1989, when Washington launched the "Operation Just Cause”, supposedly as an anti-drug initiative, with the sending of approximately 27 thousand soldiersAccording to historical records from the U.S. Army, the report states that the same justification of "combating drug trafficking" was used, at least formally, for the attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro.

The teacher Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, from the Federal Fluminense University, is cited as a critical voice against this paradigm shift.The attack on Venezuela on January 3rd leaves no doubt: the US no longer behaves like the peaceful democracy it claims to be.“He said, as mentioned in a previous interview by…” Global TimesCarvalho adds:Today, American hegemony is sustained not by the multilateral institutions it once defended, but by the projection of brute force.. "

Axis 2: Economic plunder and control of resources

In addressing the economic dimension, the report recalls a classic diagnosis by the Uruguayan writer. Eduardo galeano, Author of The open veins of Latin America. "The underdevelopment of Latin America stems from the development of others and continues to fuel it."Galeano wrote. For the Global TimesThe statement remains relevant because the region is still trapped in a model that favors resource extraction, control of production chains, and dominance of strategic infrastructure.

The text argues that this plunder appears, above all, in the struggle for energy and natural resources, and mentions what it calls "food imperialismThe report cites an interview with the American economist. michael hudson In an interview with The Grayzone, he claims that the US, by influencing the World Bank, has directed loans to stimulate export crops geared towards the American market, instead of supporting the food sovereignty of countries like Chile and Venezuela. Hudson says that, with this, “Countries have become increasingly dependent on the US for food.".

Another central point is the transport infrastructure control, with particular emphasis on the Panama Canal. The Global Times The article mentions that, in 1903, American troops landed in the country and encouraged Panama's separation from Colombia. Fifteen days after Panamanian independence, according to the text, Washington imposed an unequal treaty—the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Agreement—that granted the US the right to build the canal and control it permanently. The report recalls that a new agreement, signed in 1977, stipulated the return of the canal on December 31, 1999, but states that, in early 2025, the Trump administration threatened to regain control of the canal, citing CNN:Or something very powerful will happen.".

The article also mentions the historical role of large corporations in the regional economic structure. As an example, it cites studies from the History Labs at the University of Maryland to assert that, in the 1930s, the United Fruit Company He allegedly controlled 42% of the land in Guatemala, in addition to enjoying tax exemptions and dominating not only banana production, but also telephone and telegraph systems.

In the commercial field, the report points out that free trade agreements were designed to favor American companies and produce asymmetrical gains. It also adds a recurring tactic: economic sanctions against governments that resist Washington's agenda. The Global Times It cites data from the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research according to which, in seven years, US sanctions have devastated Venezuela's oil industry, leading the country to lose revenue equivalent to... 231% of GDP between January 2017 and December 2024.

The researcher Sun YanfengAccording to the report, the effect of this mechanism is summarized by the following: by creating distorted economic structures, weakening industrial capacity, and imposing unequal agreements or sanctions, the US would be able to control the industrial pattern and commercial structure of the region.

Axis 3: Ideological infiltration and political engineering

The third dimension highlighted by the report is the ideological infiltration, described as a “flexible” instrument to secure the American sphere of influence. The Global Times It states that the Trump administration's national security document reaffirms the "America First" strategy, presented as a continuation of the view of Latin America as its "backyard."

According to the text, for decades Washington used slogans such as “promoting democracy"and "protection of human rights"to interfere in Latin American political processes, financing aligned organizations and forces, influencing social trends, and acting in electoral disputes through financial support, manipulation of public opinion, and institutional engineering."

The report mentions... National Endowment for Democracy (NED) The text cites journalist [name omitted] as an example of an organization accused of funding opposition groups and "civil society" entities in countries like Venezuela and Cuba. stephen kinzer, former reporter for The New York Times, who reportedly published articles on the website in 2021. New York Review of Books pointing out that the NED collaborates with the CIA and USAID to support insurgent forces and promote regime change in governments that Washington rejects. The article highlights that, according to these articles, early members of the NED board included advocates of interventions and former senators enthusiastic about regime change in Cuba and Nicaragua.

The report also mentions Bolivia, stating that the US allegedly instigated a "color revolution" through the NED and other organizations, leading to the then-president's death. Evo Morales to renounce and go into exile. The Global Times It says that, between 2013 and 2018, NED and USAID would have channeled, through different means, $70M monthly for the Bolivian opposition, citing a document from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released in 2022.

A pattern that spans centuries and deepens instability.

For Global TimesThe sum of the three axes—geopolitical hegemony, economic plunder, and ideological infiltration—does not create development or stability, but intensifies internal conflicts, weakens institutions, and produces cycles of instability. The report attributes this to Professor [Name]. Xu YanranAccording to Renmin University of China, the interpretation is that American intervention is "self-interested" and not mutually beneficial, and that the accumulated tragedies explain why US involvement "It only makes things worse.".

Finally, the text states that a movement for sovereign assertion is growing in the region. According to Xu, voices advocating for regional unity, internal strengthening, and opposition to external interference are increasing. The expert argues that more countries realize that dependence on external powers does not generate prosperity, and that the safest path would be to deepen integration, cooperation, and autonomy, as a response to two centuries of pressure.

With the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and the military escalation described in the report, Latin America enters 2026 with a brutal reminder that Bolívar's phrase, written in 1829, continues to haunt the continent — and, in the reading of Global TimesThis helps explain why the Monroe Doctrine remains one of the central driving forces behind conflict, dispute, and resistance in the region.