Alliance For Global Justice:
On August 11, 2026, last Tuesday, the US State Department released a video, narrated by US Ambassador to Panama Kevin Merino Cabrera, reviewing the history of the famous 1823 statement by President James Monroe known as the Monroe Doctrine. The video glorifies the Doctrine, not the early Monroe Doctrine, which merely declared the Western Hemisphere off limits to future European colonization but rather its second life as a declaration of US dominance over the Western Hemisphere.
The highly produced video, only 5 ½ minutes long, notes that the US changed from a country that had declared itself free from empire in 1776 to a country with imperial pretentions in 1895 when Secretary of State Richard Olney wrote, in what is known as the Olney Note, about a Venezuelan boundary dispute with Great Britain, that:
“Today the United States is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition. …. [I]ts infinite resources combined with its isolated position render it master of the situation and practically invulnerable as against any or all other powers.”
Instead of being embarrassed or apologetic about the dozens of US interventions in Latin America in the 130 years since the Olney Note, the video celebrates them. Theodore Roosevelt said that if a nation fell into instability, the US would step in and manage it. Ronald Reagan said that ideological threats, such as the “Soviet-backed Sandinista regime in Nicaragua,” would confront the same response as military ones. And, finally, the film notes, the Monroe Doctrine has found its latest champion in Donald Trump, his invasion of Venezuela, and his declaration that “US dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
The video glorifies the exercise of raw imperial power and open violations of international law on non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations. Representative Delia Ramirez of Illinois called it “a cheap piece of imperialist propaganda.” Representative Greg Casar of Texas said, “Instead of toppling duly-elected governments, we can support democracy, grow our economies, and reduce forced migration.”
Representative Ramirez and Representative Nydia Velasquez of New York in February of this year introduced a resolution in the House “Calling for the annulment of the Monroe Doctrine and the development of a ‘New Good Neighbor’ policy’ in order to foster improved relations and deeper, more effective cooperation between the United States and its Latin American and Caribbean neighbors.” The legislation, H.Res.1056, comes, according to the two Congresswomen, “in direct response to the Trump administration’s aggressive interventionism across the hemisphere.” Congresswoman Velasquez said, “Their ‘Donroe Doctrine’ is simply a more grotesque version of the interventionist policies that have failed us for two centuries. …. We need to finally leave the Monroe Doctrine behind and pursue a foreign policy grounded in mutual respect and shared prosperity.”
The New Good Neighbor Resolution has been sent to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. It currently has eighteen co-sponsors.
Click HERE to write to your representative asking them to co-sponsor the resolution.
In a series of “Whereas,” the Resolution traces the history of US intervention in Latin America from the annexation of Texas and of over half of Mexican territory in the 1840s to the 2019 right-wing coup in Bolivia. The longest paragraph covers the period in the 1980s when the United States funded genocide in Guatemala, murderous paramilitary death squads in El Salvador, and the violent contras trying to overthrow the revolutionary Sandinista government of Nicaragua.
The Resolution then says, “be it resolved that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that… the Department of State should formally confirm that the Monroe Doctrine is no longer a part of United States policy toward Latin American and the Caribbean; [and] in place of the Monroe Doctrine, the Federal Government should develop a ‘New Good Neighbor’ policy.”
The Resolution calls for a new approach to promoting development based on a respect for the integrity of the sovereign economic development plans of the region’s governments. And, among other measures, the Resolution calls for “terminating all unilateral economic sanctions imposed through Executive orders, and working with Congress to terminate all unilateral sanctions mandated by law, such as the Cuba embargo.” Further measures included in the Resolution promote collaboration with Latin American and Caribbean governments on a far-reaching reform of the Organization of American States and support democratic reforms to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and other international financial institutions. The Resolution also calls for the creation of trust fund under the UN to support climate action in developing countries with recurrent contributions from the United States to that fund.
Read the Resolution (which includes an extraordinary history of US intervention), watch the shocking State Department video and be sure to click here to write your Congressmember to co-sponsor the resolution to annul the Monroe Doctrine.
Letter to Representatives asking them to co-sponsor HRes. 1056
Dear Representative ___________:
As your constituent and a person interested in international affairs, I wish to urge you to co-sponsor House Resolution 1056, introduced in February in the House by Representatives Delia Ramirez of Illinois and Nydia Velazquez of New York. The Resolution says, “It is the sense of the House of Representatives that… the Department of State should formally confirm that the Monroe Doctrine is no longer a part of United States policy toward Latin American and the Caribbean; [and] in place of the Monroe Doctrine, the Federal Government should develop a ‘New Good Neighbor’ policy, designed to foster improved relations and deepen more effective cooperation with all the countries of the hemisphere.”
I believe that passage of this Resolution could lead to better relations with our neighbors here in the Western Hemisphere by bringing an end to United States intervention in the internal affairs of the region’s countries. It calls for the release of information about previous US interventions in the region and also calls for the termination of all unilateral economic sanctions imposed through Executive orders, and working with Congress to terminate all unilateral sanctions mandated by law, such as the Cuba embargo. It also calls for supporting democratic reforms to the international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
As Representative Ramirez stated, “We must recognize our interconnectedness and admit that the Monroe Doctrine undermines the partnership needed to confront the complex challenges of this century. We must become better neighbors.” I urge you to co-sponsor and support House Resolution 1056.