Lessons of the Banana Republics

The business interests of this country have always fueled US policy in the Americas. Our own backyard is where our country developed the “low intensity conflict” we have utilized elsewhere with mixed results. Starting back before Teddy Roosevelt, US companies were exploiting what they could from the undeveloped areas of Latin America. The banana republics became defacto extensions of American business. Their power was enforced on an as needed basis by the US military. This blatant pillaging and years long oppression laid the groundwork for the resistance that would rise up from the likes of Castro and Che. Since these revolutions were definitely homegrown, I feel we should have left them alone. But we could not leave them alone. Money was being lost. What we thought we owned was in danger. So, as was our “right” per the Monroe Doctrine, we once again put our government policy in the service of business interests. It had worked before, it should work again. Only now we were more sensitive to World opinion, so we went underground. Taking a page from the communist playbook on how to start and conduct a revolution, we attempted to create our own. Our success rate was dismal. Bay of Pigs should have shown us that arms, money and a few good men do not always work. Revolutions are successful because of commitment. Commitment of those involved and of those supporting it. Bay of pigs had neither. So what do we do? We try it again in Nicaragua. We pick the worse bunch of degenerate boneheads we can find. Arm them, give them money, and set them loose. All in all, after considering US foreign policy over the last 150 years, I have come to the conclusion that what I was taught in school was a bunch of crap. We are not interested in spreading democracy. We are not interested in uplifting the downtrodden. We are interested in lining our pockets. And we are good at it.