Source: Common Dreams
by Joseph Bouchard
“In August 1981, US Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick traveled to Santiago to meet with Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, eight years after he seized power in a military coup. Kirkpatrick cheeringly described their talk as ‘most pleasant’ and announced that the Reagan administration would fully normalize relations and resume arms sales — support that Pinochet quickly used to claim renewed legitimacy and crack down on opponents. The episode crystallized what became known as the Kirkpatrick Doctrine: the notion that the US government should embrace any autocrat who aligned with Washington’s anti-communist agenda while working to undermine, sanction, or topple any left-wing leader who refused to ‘play ball,’ even if they were democratically elected (and popular). Protecting American economic interests was the lodestar, and just about anything was permissible in service of that goal.” (09/08/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-latin-america-imperialism