Small Wars Journal

What is the Monroe Doctrine? John Bolton’s Justification for Trump’s Push Against Maduro.

Mon, 03/04/2019 - 2:27pm

What is the Monroe Doctrine? John Bolton’s Justification for Trump’s Push Against Maduro. By Adam Taylor – Washington Post

White House national security adviser John Bolton was detailing the U.S. government’s hard line against the government of “dictator” Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela on Sunday morning when CNN’s Jake Tapper posed a tough question: How can President Trump oppose Maduro when he has close ties to authoritarian governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates?

 

Bolton’s response was simple: The situation is different because Venezuela is in the Western Hemisphere.

 

“In this administration, we’re not afraid to use the phrase ‘Monroe Doctrine,’ ” Bolton said. “This is a country in our hemisphere; it’s been the objective of presidents going back to Ronald Reagan to have a completely democratic hemisphere.”…

Read on.