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War and conflict
Opinion
SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Reviving the Monroe Doctrine won’t keep China out of the Americas

The Trump administration’s threats against Venezuela will only push the beleaguered country and its neighbours closer to China

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The guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson sails near the Colombian coast in the Pacific Ocean on June 29, 2024. The US has dispatched three destroyers with an amphibious squadron carrying 4,000 Marines to waters off Venezuela. Photo: AFP
SCMP Editorial
China knows all about gunboat diplomacy and Western imperialism. That is why it is sympathetic to countries across the Caribbean and South America now being threatened by a military build-up by the United States. Washington has dispatched three destroyers with an amphibious squadron carrying 4,000 Marines to waters off Venezuela. Its rationale is to disrupt drug cartels, but Caracas, not unreasonably, sees it as a challenge to its sovereignty and security.
If an unfriendly nation sends so much naval hardware towards the coasts of continental US, say, to disrupt drug smuggling, how might Washington respond? Citing the UN Charter, Beijing has criticised the US moves as disrupting peace and stability in the region. Beijing is not the only one. Mexico, Colombia and Brazil have all expressed alarm. The Trump administration has classified major drug cartels in Latin America as terrorist groups, meaning they could be attacked by the US military inside their countries. Some operate out of Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia. Meanwhile, relations between Brazil and the US are at rock bottom.

US President Donald Trump, over two administrations, and Joe Biden in between have openly tried to destroy the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, including by imposing punishing sanctions that have collapsed the country’s economy, hurt most of its population and created a massive migration movement to US borders. US hostilities began with Maduro’s predecessor, the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

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China is estimated to have poured about US$67 billion into Venezuela since 2007 and has an abiding interest in the country’s oil supplies, whose exports have been severely curtailed by US sanctions.

US aggression is likely to compel Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia to move closer to China; but not only them. Most countries in the region have joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has provoked Washington.

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Reminiscent of the old imperialist Monroe Doctrine, Washington has been trying to disrupt those regional ties with China. But with such naked aggression from the US, more Latin American countries may just move closer to Beijing.

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