From Guatemala to Panama: US interventions in Latin America

In the early hours of 3 January 2026, US forces captured disputed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transferred to the US, where Maduro now deposed, faces charges of narco-terrorism.

The US operation, illegal according to international law, marks the latest in a long history of US interventions in Latin America, often justified by Washington with claims of regional security.

Many of these interventions can be traced back to the Monroe Doctrine, a foreign policy principle which despite its 19th century origins has continued to influence US foreign policy over the past 200 years.

The Monroe Doctrine dates back to 1823, when President James Monroe warned European powers against meddling in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.

The doctrine was later expanded by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, in what’s known as the Roosevelt Corollary. Roosevelt argued that the US has the right to intervene in Latin American countries to prevent what he called 'chronic wrongdoing' and instability.

The US national security strategy published in 2025 states: "After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region".

Trump also referred to the doctrine shortly after American forces captured Maduro, saying "The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the ‘Donroe’ Doctrine."

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In one of the earliest Cold War interventions in Latin America, the US backed the overthrow of the democratically elected President of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz. He had introduced land reforms which would nationalize property, including that owned by the US-based United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International).

The Eisenhower administration regarded Arbenz's government as a communist threat, with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles accusing Arbenz of installing a 'communist-type reign of terror.'

CIA operatives supported a force of Guatemalan exiles, and installed Carlos Castillo Armas as president. Armas swiftly reversed the land reforms.

After Fidel Castro's communist revolution in 1959, the US became increasingly concerned about Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union. President Dwight D. Eisenhower devised a plan to overthrow the Cuban leader, which was executed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

1,400 Cuban exiles trained by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs, some 200 km from the capital, Havana. Expecting to spark a revolution and overthrow Castro, the plan quickly collapsed. Castro sent around 20,000 troops to the beaches, forcing a surrender.

The failure proved a major embarrassment for the US, intensifying Cold War tensions in the region.

Still alarmed by the communist rule in Cuba and the prospect of Soviet influence in the Western Hemisphere, the US opposed socialist President Salvador Allende’s government in Chile from the outset. Washington viewed Allende's nationalization of key industries and close ties to the Soviet Union as a threat to US interests.

Though the US did not directly carry out the coup, Washington sought to destabilize Chile through diplomatic pressure, financial restrictions, funding of opposition groups and anti-Allende propaganda.

In September 1973, Chile's military, led by Augusto Pinochet, overthrew Allende, with the former assuming power following Allende's death during the coup.

The right-wing dictator would go on to rule Chile for 17 years, marking the end of a 46-year history of democratic rule in Chile. His regime was marked by widespread disappearances and torture.

Following the assassination of Grenada's Prime Minister Maurice Bishop during an internal coup, President Ronald Reagan ordered an invasion of Grenada. He cited the need to protect US citizens and to ensure the security of the region.

Known as Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion came at a time when the US was alarmed at Grenada's relationships with the Soviet Union and Cuba.

The invasion was heavily criticized by the United Nations General Assembly who wrote that the intervention was "a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of that State."

In December 1989, President George H.W. Bush launched a full-scale invasion of Panama under Operation Just Cause, deploying roughly 24,000 troops to remove General Manuel Noriega from power.

Noriega, once a US ally, was indicted and imprisoned in the US on charges including drug-trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering.

Following the invasion, the US installed Guillermo Endara as president.

Unlike earlier Cold War interventions, the Panama invasion did not target a communist, but a former ally and informant.