Elizabeth Morgan | Are countries in the Western Hemisphere to become more subjugated US satellites?

There are 35 independent countries in the Western Hemisphere, including the Caribbean small island developing states, which signed the agreement establishing the Organization of American States (OAS). There have been several articles in this column since 2018 which have pointed to the fraught relationship with this hemisphere’s superpower, the United States of America (USA), since the 19th century.

On December 10, 2025, this column featured the then newly released US National Security Strategy (NSS), which clearly stated that the Monroe Doctrine of the 19th and 20th centuries was being updated with the Trump Corollary. In the NSS, it is stated that the USA intends to reassert its dominance in the Western Hemisphere to serve its national security and economic interests. It is to be the only power in the hemisphere. No foreign powers will be allowed, i.e., primarily China.

Over the weekend, all the other 34 countries in this hemisphere, from the Arctic in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south, and the world, got a clear sense of what the NSS portends for their future. With the use of its military might, the US could seek to make all the other countries its subjugated satellites to serve its security and economic interests, ensuring that the USA is, and remains, great.

In March 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid an official visit to the Caribbean. The impression was given that he came to the region as a friend, raising some concerns about the involvement of adversaries. The region, in review, may now look at this visit differently.

A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

President Donald Trump came to office in January 2025 talking about making Canada the US’s 51st state and acquiring Greenland by force, if necessary. We are all now recognising, after Saturday’s events and from utterances from President Trump and his administration and supporters, that this was not a joke. President Trump recently appointed a special envoy to Greenland to make it part of the USA. The president continues to talk about acquiring Greenland over the objections of Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory. Denmark is a member of the European Union (EU) and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Like Canada, it is supposed to be a US ally.

The USA has one of the world’s most powerful militaries, utilising advanced weapons. It is a voluntary and not a conscript service. It is a nuclear power.

We have seen the US bomb Iran, Syria, Nigeria, take out Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, and make threats all over.

So, in this hemisphere, Canada has to be on guard. The Arctic is strategically important to the USA, as there is oil in Alberta and minerals in other provinces. For similar reasons, acquiring Greenland is an objective.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, threats are now against Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Brazil needs to be on guard. It imprisoned Jair Bolsinario, President Trump’s friend. The USA openly supported favoured candidates in recent elections in Chile and Honduras. So, the US wants to determine who governs in the countries and who their partners are. Freedom of choice here must be US-approved.

If US companies invest in your country, your resources belong to them, and the USA will use its military to protect their commercial interests. This is not really new; it was the previous modus operandi. So, we are told that although Venezuela’s oil industry was nationalised in the 1970s, its oil resources are still considered US property to be recovered. The USA will assume control of Venezuela’s oil industry. It seems the Venezuelans will be secondary beneficiaries. A message for Guyana, also.

So, in this hemisphere, there is a clear and present danger.

DYSFUNCTIONAL US GOVERNANCE

In these times, many people worldwide have in their hands a sophisticated phone which provides information about daily events in many countries, including the USA. We are thus daily keyed into the dysfunction in US governance, which includes government shutdowns and partisan gerrymandering of constituency boundaries. The list of dysfunctions is very long, also including the failure of the US’s vaunted checks and balances. After 250 years, the US governance system is in need of review and reform, if the will exists.

It was, thus, very surprising when it was announced on Saturday that the USA would be “running” Venezuela. It is not clear what “running Venezuela” really means and at the time of writing, this was not properly clarified. Does it mean administering the country or outlining policies? In any case, there is irony here. If the US governance system is being exposed daily as dysfunctional, how will it undertake running another country? The USA’s track record in intervention and nation-building exercises, including in Haiti, 1915-34, have been near disastrous. This litany of failure is well documented and would not augur well for Venezuela’s future.

In any case, at this time, it appears that full regime change has not actually occurred in Venezuela; only a change of leadership.

A SURREAL GANGLAND REALITY SHOW

So, here we are at the beginning of 2026, living in what appears to be a surreal gangland reality show with a setting in the 19th and early 20th centuries when might was right, land grabs were okay, outlaws ruled, and powers could commandeer others’ resources. We thought that was left behind since 1946 with the creation of the United Nations and respect for the rule of law.

Are we all to cower in fear, paying homage and tribute to the existing US administration, while the interests of our own countries and people are trampled and our resources serve another’s interests?

Will we all meekly acquiesce to being further subjugated satellite states of the USA?

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.