Enforce the Monroe Doctrine on Russian Moves in Latin America

Ted Galen Carpenter

Security, Americas

The Trump administration needs to adopt a firmer policy toward Moscow’s intrusions into Latin America.

Russia and the United States seem determined to provoke each other by adopting highly intrusive policies in the opposing country’s geopolitical neighborhood. The latest incident is Moscow’s decision to send two nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela to show support for Nicolas Maduro’s leftist regime. Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said during a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Vladimir Padrino Lopez that Russia would continue to send military aircraft and warships to visit Venezuela as part of continuing bilateral military cooperation.

Not surprisingly, Washington is unhappy about Moscow’s move. The Trump administration increasingly is concerned about the Maduro regime’s ugly authoritarianism, the meltdown of the Venezuelan economy and the massive refugee flow it has created, and the mounting tensions between Caracas and several neighbors, especially Colombia. Even before the latest episodes of turbulence, Barack Obama’s administration declared Venezuela to be a national security threat to the United States. The last thing U.S. officials want to see is Russia fishing in such troubled political waters.