The United States have always had a special conception of their relationship toward countries of South and Central America. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Map of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. ...

1823 Monroe Doctrine

The 1823 Monroe Doctrine, founder of US isolationism, theorized the imperative for the US to break with Europe and focus on the continent of America. U.S. President James Monroe The Monroe Doctrine is a U.S. doctrine which, on December 2, 1823, proclaimed that European powers should no longer colonize or interfere with the affairs of the nations of the Americas. ... Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military and a political policy of economic nationalism (protectionism). ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... // America usually means either: The Americas, the lands and regions of the Western hemisphere, usually divided into North America and South America The United States of America. ...

1960s-1970s

Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the US trained Latin American militaries in counter-insurgency tactics at the School of the Americas. The Cuban Revolution refers to the revolutionary war in Cuba culminating in the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista’s government on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement and other revolutionary elements in the country. ... Counter-insurgency is the combating of insurgency, by the government (or allies) of the territory in which the insurgency takes place. ... The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), formerly School of the Americas (SOA), is a US Army facility at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, USA. It is a training facility operated in the Spanish language especially for Latin American military personnel. ...

During the 1970s, the US gave assistance in Operation Condor, although it denounced Augusto Pinochet's violation of human rights after the 1976 assassination of former Chilean minister Orlando Letelier in Washington DC. See also United States intervention in Chile. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte[1] (November 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was a general and President of Chile. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Orlando Letelier del Solar (April 13, 1932–September 21, 1976), was a member of the government of Chile. ... Meeting between General A. Pinochet and US Secretary of State H. Kissinger (1974). ...

1980s - 2000s

Latin America is also the focus for the US "War on drugs", in particular through the Plan Colombia. Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Massive mark-ups for drugs, UK Govt report Prevalance of drug use 1991-2002 The War on Drugs is an initiative undertaken by the United States with the assistance of participating countries, which is intended to curb supply and diminish demand for certain psychoactive substances. ... Plan Colombia is a controversial initiative aimed at resolving the ongoing, fifty-year civil war in Colombia. ...

The Argentine film called Sed, Invasión Gota a Gota ("Thirst, Invasion Drop by Drop"), directed by Mausi Martínez, portrays the military of the United States as slowly but steadily increasing its presence in the Triple Frontera (Triple Frontier, the area around the common borders of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil). The overt reason for the increasing presence of U.S. troops and joint exercises, mainly with Paraguay, is to monitor the large Arab population which resides in the area. However, Martínez alleges that it is the water of the Guarani Aquifer which brings the Americans to the area, and she fears a subtle takeover before the local governments even realize what is going on. The military of the United States, officially known as the United States Armed Forces, is structured into five branches consisting of the: United States Army United States Navy United States Marine Corps United States Air Force United States Coast Guard; these comprise five of the seven United States Uniformed Services. ... The Triple Frontier (in Spanish, Hito Tres Fronteras, the Three Borders Landmark) is the tri-border area along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil near the cities of Ciudad del Este, Alto Paraná; Puerto Iguazú, Misiones and Foz do Iguassu, Paraná respectively and is the location of the Iguassu... The Guaraní Aquifer is a vast underground reservoir of fresh water which lies beneath the surface of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. ...

Similar concerns were lifted following both the signature of a military training agreement with Paraguay, which accorded immunity to U.S. soldiers from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and was indefinitely renewable (something which had never been done before, while Donald Rumsfeld himself visited Paraguay and, for the first time ever, Paraguayan president Nicanor Duarte Frutos went to the White House), and the construction of a U.S. military base near the airport of Mariscal Estigarribia, within 200 km of Argentina and Bolivia and 300 km of Brazil. The airport can receive large planes (B-52, C-130 Hercules, etc.) which the Paraguayan Air Force does not possess. ^{[1] [2]}. The governments of Paraguay and the United States subsequently ostensibly declared that the use of an airport (Dr Luís María Argaña International)[1] was one point of transfer for few soldiers in Paraguay at the same time. According to the Argentine newspaper Clarín, the U.S. military base is strategic because of its location near the Triple Frontier, its proximity to the Guaraní Aquifer, and its closeness to Bolivia (less than 200 km) at the same "moment that Washington's magnifying glass goes on the Altiplano [Bolivia] and points toward Venezuelan [president] Hugo Chávez — the regional devil according to the Bush administration — as the instigator of the instability in the region" (El Clarín ^[2]). In October 2006, US President George W. Bush was reported to be negotiating for purchase of a 400 km² ranch near Marriscal Estigarribia ^[3][4]. Official logo of the ICC. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, crime of aggression, and war crimes, as defined by several international agreements, most prominently the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. ... Donald Henry Rumsfeld, (born July 9, 1932) is a U.S. politician and businessman, who was the 13th Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975–1977, and the 21st Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001–2006. ... Óscar Nicanor Duarte Frutos (born October 11, 1956) is the current President of Paraguay. ... North façade of the White House, seen from Pennsylvania Avenue. ... Mariscal Estigarribia is a town in the Boquerón Department, Paraguay. ... B-52 can refer to the following: The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber aircraft A hairstyle popular in the 1950s and 1960s, named after the aircraft A rock band, The B-52s, named after the hairstyle A cocktail This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop cargo aircraft and the main tactical airlifter for military forces worldwide. ... The constitution of Paraguay designates the president as commander in chief of the armed forces. ... Clarín is a major newspaper in Argentina, founded by Roberto Noble on August 28, 1945. ... The Altiplano (Spanish for high plain), where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on earth outside of Tibet. ... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (IPA: ) (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd[1] and current President of Venezuela. ... The Bush administration includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Bushs Cabinet, and other select officials and advisors. ... October 2006 is the tenth month of that year and has yet to occur. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...

But Paraguay decided in October 2006 not to renew the immunity granted to US soldiers. The other members of the Mercosur trade bloc (Argentina, which is a Major non-NATO ally, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela) have so far refused to grant immunity to U.S. troops. All four nations have in recent years elected leftist governments critical of U.S. policy (Lula in Brazil, Nestor Kirschner in Argentina, Tabaré Vázquez in Uruguay and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela) ^[5] Mercosur or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, English: Southern Common Market) is a RTA (Regional Trade Agreement) between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Paraguay, founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty... Map of countries designated by the United States as major non-NATO allies Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to exceptionally close allies who have strong strategic working relationships with American forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. ... Lula may refer to: // [edit] Geography Lula, a village in Groningen province, the Netherlands. ... Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas (born 17 January 1940) is the current President of Uruguay. ...

OEA (OAS)

Main article: Organization of American States

The Organization of American States (OAS; OEA in the other three official languages) is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA. Its members are the 35 independent nations of the Americas. ...

References

April 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Events 1 April 2006 (Saturday) Marcos Pontes, Brazils first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station. ... Clarín is a major newspaper in Argentina, founded by Roberto Noble on August 28, 1945. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 2006 is the tenth month of that year and has yet to occur. ... October 2006 is the tenth month of that year and has yet to occur. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. ...

See also

• Foreign relations of the United States
• Ecuador-United States relations
• Venezuela-United States relations
• U.S.-Colombia military relations