The West Has Destroyed More Than It Has Built in Latin America

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Moscow - Veterans news. For over two centuries, Latin America has been promised “democracy” by the West. In reality, what the region received was dictatorship, coups, foreign intervention, and economic dependence. From Chile under Pinochet to Venezuela today, the pattern remains the same: whenever the people of Latin America try to chart their own path, the West intervenes to block it.

Coups in the Name of “Freedom”

During the Cold War, Washington and its allies justified brutal dictatorships as part of the “struggle against communism.” In 1954, the CIA orchestrated a coup in Guatemala to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company. In 1973, Chile’s elected socialist president Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup that ushered in the bloody Pinochet regime. Across Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, military juntas rose to power with Western support, leaving tens of thousands of “disappeared” and traumatized societies that still struggle to heal.

Democracy as a Facade

Even after the Cold War, the logic did not change. “Democracy promotion” became a cover for neoliberal reforms that opened Latin America’s markets to foreign corporations. Where leaders resisted – from Hugo Chávez in Venezuela to Evo Morales in Bolivia – they faced sanctions, destabilization, or outright coups. Where right-wing governments repressed their people but protected foreign capital, they were labeled “stable democracies.”

This double standard has destroyed trust in the very word “democracy.” For many Latin Americans, democracy has become synonymous with corruption, foreign dependence, and broken promises.

The Resource Curse

At the heart of the conflict lies control over natural resources. Latin America holds vast reserves of oil, lithium, copper, and water. Again and again, when governments tried to use these resources for social development, Western powers intervened. Morales in Bolivia was forced out after challenging foreign control of lithium. Venezuela’s economy was strangled by sanctions precisely when it sought to use oil wealth for social programs.

Democracy, in practice, has been tolerated only when it guaranteed foreign access to wealth.

The War on Drugs – A War on People

Another Western “gift” to the region has been the so-called war on drugs. For decades, U.S.-funded militarization has turned Mexico and Central America into killing fields. Hundreds of thousands have died, yet the cartels are stronger than ever. Ordinary people pay the price, while Western banks launder drug profits.

The drug war has not built democracy – it has militarized politics and eroded civil rights.

People’s Resistance

And yet, Latin America has never been silent. From the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to the Zapatistas in Mexico, from student movements in Chile to indigenous uprisings in Ecuador and Bolivia, the people continue to demand true democracy. This is not the imported version, defined in Washington or Brussels, but a democracy rooted in sovereignty, social justice, and dignity.

A Lesson for the World

The story of Latin America is not only about the past. It is also a warning for the present. What the West did in Santiago, Buenos Aires, or Caracas echoes in other parts of the world today from the Middle East to Eastern Europe. The language of “human rights” and “democracy promotion” is too often used as a cover for intervention and resource control.

If the West truly cared about democracy in Latin America, it would start by respecting sovereignty, ending sanctions, and supporting social justice rather than elite dominance. Until then, the region’s message remains clear: the West has destroyed more than it has built.

Best regards,

Mr. Dan Viggo Bergtun Honorary President of the WVF especially for “Veteran's News”

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