It’s a tricky question:

Has the U.S. done more damage to Latin America by ignoring it, or by intervening in It?

This post focuses on the first option — and to answer it, we’ll take a brief look at history.

Don’t worry, this won’t be a deep dive — just a quick dip into the waters to get a feel for the wreckage left behind.

Not too long ago, countries like Argentina and Chile were richer than the U.S.

Brazil, Venezuela, and Chile weren’t far behind.

Today, they’re poor — some, dirt poor.

Many books have tried to explain why. The usual suspects show up:

Corruption.

Broken institutions.

Populist governments.

Weak education.

And, of course — the U.S.

But in the end, the bucket stops with the people.

Joseph de Maistre said it best:

“Every nation gets the government it deserves.”

Still, foreign policy matters. A lot.

Under the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. declared Latin America its backyard.

The idea wasn’t to colonize it like Europe did, but to keep it from becoming a threat.

That translated into a quiet, unofficial principle:

> Latin America must remain poor.

The U.S. backed dictatorships all over the region — governments friendly to American interests.

These regimes looted their countries, crushed political dissent, and triggered decades of unrest and violence.

In hail mary to hold on to power Dictator, Right or Left, turned to socialism and populism to seduce their populations.

As usual, the money ran out.

And when it did, they printed more — and inflation devoured everything.

The Cold War made things worse.

The region became a proxy battlefield between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Civil wars exploded. Foreign hands pulled the strings.

The few countries that stayed out?

They had oil, gas, or resources — and they made deals with American corporations that stole their wealth with a handshake.

After the fall of the USSR in the ’90s, the U.S. shifted its focus elsewhere.

But by then, the damage was done.

War-torn nations. Corruption-proof societies.

Democracy became cheap — and misery made it cheaper.

A Honduran dictator once said it best:

> “Democracy must be cheap — so it can be bought.”

In the U.S.’s absence, a new wave of “democratic dictatorships” took power.

Their slogan : “equality for all”

But their method of equality?

> Make everyone poor — equally.

Even the poorest nations can make billionaires out of a few crooked leaders.

The list is growing:

Venezuela. Cuba. Nicaragua. El Salvador. Brazil.

And soon: Honduras. Colombia. Mexico.

So why should the U.S. care?

Because misery breeds humanitarian crises.

And those turn into mass migration — the kind that overwhelms borders, bankrupts systems, and breaks social contracts of the Host country (AKA the U.S.A.)

The U.S. created a mess in Latin America.

Then walked away — only to create a bigger one.

When the U.S. forgets Latin America, tragedy happens to everyone.