An imperial strategy to secure resource hegemony and silence regional sovereignty.

The geopolitical landscape of the Western Hemisphere is undergoing a seismic shift. Under the banner of “America First,” the current U.S. administration has moved beyond mere rhetoric to formalize a strategy of absolute regional hegemony.

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Monroe Doctrine: Two Centuries of Implacable Imperialism

For those of us committed to a counter-hegemonic vision for Latin America, it is vital to understand that the National Security Strategy (NSS 2025) is not just a policy document; it is a declaration of renewed imperial intent.

This article deconstructs the mechanisms of this 21st-century “Big Stick” policy, examining how a 200-year-old doctrine is being weaponized to stifle the sovereignty of our peoples.

.@SECWAR “We will also deny adversaries’ ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere…

The Monroe Doctrine is in effect, and it is stronger than ever…” pic.twitter.com/2cDttwimvQ

— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) December 6, 2025

The 2025 National Security Strategy: From Rhetoric to Doctrine

The NSS 2025 marks a radical departure from traditional U.S. globalism, pivoting the empire’s gaze directly toward what it historically considers its “backyard”.

For the first time in decades, Washington is explicitly prioritizing control over Latin America and the Caribbean over longstanding commitments in the Middle East or Europe, even withdrawing military support from traditional allies like NATO and Ukraine to concentrate power in the South.

This is not a strategy of cooperation, but one of “flexible realism” where every action is measured by its direct benefit to U.S. industry and security.

The NSS 2025 formalizes several pillars that threaten regional autonomy:

  • Militarized Borders and Migration: Migration is no longer treated as a humanitarian issue but as a “national security threat” and an “invasion”. This justifies the use of lethal force and military operations within third countries, particularly Mexico and Caribbean nations.
  • The Criminalization of Sovereignty: By designating drug cartels and non-aligned groups as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” the U.S. grants itself a self-styled “license to marque”. This allows for “surgical” military interventions and “precision strikes” without the consent of local states.
  • Economic Coercion: The strategy establishes a rigid system of “rewards” for subservient governments and an “iron fist” of tariffs and blockades for those who seek independent paths, such as the BRICS bloc.

To enforce this vision, the administration employs a “Peace through Strength” narrative. The patrolling of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean serves as a visual assertion of “ownership” over the Panama Canal and regional maritime routes.

Analysts suggest this is part of a calculated tactic to keep Latin American leaders in a state of “strategic paranoia,” forcing them into a defensive posture through staged conflicts and diplomatic confusion.

As part of its war of aggression against Venezuela, and its imposition of the colonial Monroe Doctrine, the US is militarizing the Caribbean.

Trinidad and Tobago just quietly announced that it will allow US military aircraft to transit its local airports.https://t.co/nfgVhPXjv5 pic.twitter.com/8jLpTuALpi

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 16, 2025

The Monroe Doctrine: Two Centuries of Interventionism

The Monroe Doctrine, established in 1823 under the slogan “America for the Americans,” was never intended to protect the independence of our republics.

Instead, it served as the cornerstone of U.S. expansionism, designed to eliminate European competition and consolidate a captive market for northern industry.

While the official discourse claimed to shield the hemisphere from external monarchy, the reality was a “script of domination” that mutated through the centuries:

  • The Original Shield Turned Sword: What began as a warning against future colonization by the Holy Alliance quickly became a justification for U.S. territorial theft and the “Manifest Destiny” expansion.
  • The Roosevelt Corollary (1904): Theodore Roosevelt famously updated the doctrine to claim the U.S. had the right to act as “international police” in cases of “chronic wrongdoing” by Latin American nations. This led directly to the “Banana Wars” and the brutal occupation of Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
  • The Cold War Era: The doctrine was the pretext for overthrowing democratically elected governments, from Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala (1954) to Salvador Allende in Chile (1973), simply because they challenged the U.S. “sphere of influence”.
  • The Double Standard: The doctrine’s true nature was exposed during the Falklands War (1982). When an actual extra-continental power (the UK) attacked an American nation (Argentina), the U.S. betrayed its own doctrine to provide logistical support to the British, proving the policy only applies when it serves Washington’s interests.

In 2025, the Monroe Doctrine is not a relic of the past but a “living organism”. As researcher Alejandro Bruzual notes in his book Imperial “Pirates, Writing and National Territory”, it remains a tool of “imperial piracy,” allowing the U.S. to redefine the geography and history of our nations to justify the plundering of our resources.

It’s not just US piracy against Venezuela that has people in South America worried. The Trump administration’s announcement that it’s bringing back the bloody Monroe Doctrine has set off alarms across the continent. My story @telesurenglish pic.twitter.com/wudMYrzvdM

— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) December 18, 2025

The “Trump Corollary”: An Appendix of Coercion

In the same way that Theodore Roosevelt appended his 1904 corollary to justify the “Big Stick,” the 2025 administration has introduced a new doctrinal appendix.

This “Trump Corollary” explicitly states that the U.S. will no longer tolerate “foreign nations or globalist institutions” controlling the destiny of the Western Hemisphere.

This is not a policy of soft power or diplomatic persuasion; it is a shift from traditional hegemony to direct, coercive domination.

The corollary functions through several aggressive mechanisms:

  • Criminalization of Politics: By declaring drug cartels and non-aligned regional groups as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” the U.S. creates a legal pretext to use military force within sovereign borders.
  • Transactional Subjugation: Under the “America First” banner, all foreign action must provide a direct benefit to U.S. industry. This establishes a system of “rewards” for subservient governments, such as those of Milei in Argentina or Bukele in El Salvador, and an “iron fist” of tariffs and blockades for those who maintain independent alliances with the BRICS bloc.
  • The New “License to Marque”: According to analysts like Alejandro Bruzual, this corollary acts as a 21st-century “license to marque,” allowing the U.S. to operate in foreign territories like the Caribbean or Mexico in violation of international law.

For the Trump administration, the sovereignty of Latin American peoples is nonexistent if it clashes with the interests of the White House.

This is literally the Monroe Doctrine on steroids; treating South America as “stolen” U.S. property & demanding they fork over their natural resources or face military consequences.

He is announcing a regime change war for oil. In real-time. Via ‘Truth Social’ post. God help us. pic.twitter.com/ftKRH3nEUf

— Andrew—#IAmTheResistance (@AmoneyResists) December 17, 2025

The First Testing Ground: Venezuela and the Escalation of Aggression

The primary laboratory for this updated doctrine is Venezuela. The NSS 2025 treats the Caribbean not as a shared sea, but as a Mare Nostrum—an American lake where naval deployments occur without consulting coastal states.

The current escalation against the Bolivarian process represents the most aggressive chapter of “imperial piracy” in recent history:

  • Naval Blockades and Seizures: The U.S. has engaged in the “criminal seizure” of ships carrying Venezuelan oil, an act denounced by the Venezuelan government as a “gigantic crime of aggression” and extortion.
  • The Oil Pretext: Social movements like the No Cold War collective point out that this aggression is fundamentally about resources. The U.S. seeks to overthrow the Venezuelan government not for the sake of democracy, but to secure oil for U.S. transnational companies.
  • “Operation Spearhead”: There is a latent and constant threat of direct intervention under “surgical cut” operations, using naval deployment to force regime changes and control energy reserves.

The Communist Party of Cuba and other progressive forces have correctly identified these “targeted deployments” as irrefutable proof of a total disrespect for regional self-determination.

As Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil has stated, this colonial logic is driven by a desire to divide and conquer the region piece by piece.

Global Friction: China’s Strategic Alternative and the Multi-Polar Challenge

The resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine in 2025 has not occurred in a vacuum. As Washington attempts to “electrify the fence” around the continent, it faces a sophisticated counter-strategy from Beijing that prioritizes “geoeconomic seduction” over the “militaristic stick”.

While the NSS 2025 treats Latin America as a security “buffer” to be disciplined, China is promoting its Global Civilization Initiative.

This approach fosters “civilization-to-civilization” dialogues, contrasting sharply with the unilateral U.S. vision that views our region as a mere territorial extension of its own domestic security.

One of the most significant threats to the “Trump Corollary” is China’s offer of financial sovereignty. To bypass the use of the dollar as a weapon of war—manifested through sanctions and blockades—Beijing has introduced Panda Bonds.

These yuan-denominated instruments allow Latin American nations to finance their development without the suffocating conditionalities of the IMF or the threat of being severed from the Washington-led SWIFT system.

Today I had the chance to read #China’s Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, released just a few days ago.

It is the first update to this document in 9 years and it came immediately after the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine was released. I think the timing… pic.twitter.com/2fA0Atlw00

— Imdat Oner (@imdat_oner) December 15, 2025

The Struggle for a Second Independence

The NSS 2025 and the Trump Corollary represent an “explicit neocolonialism” that strips away the diplomatic masks of the past.

By treating Latin America not as a partner but as a strategic reserve for U.S. industry, Washington is inadvertently accelerating the push for regional cohesion.

For the peoples of Our America, the choice is clear: submit to a recycled 1823 script of domination or strengthen the sovereign ties that lead toward a truly multipolar and equitable future. The “Big Stick” may have returned, but it faces a region that is no longer willing to be anyone’s backyard.

Venezuela denounced before the United Nations Security Council a plan of continental aggression by the #UnitedStates, based on the Monroe Doctrine, which seeks to divide the region in order to conquer it. pic.twitter.com/rzSkveovDe

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 23, 2025

Sources: teleSUR – Al Mayadeen – Britannica – National Archives – National Security Strategy of the United States of America – Foreign Affairs – Misión Verdad – VTV – María Fernanda Barreto – Alejandro Bruzual – Alba Movimientos

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