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Today is a very good day to remind everyone of a chapter that isn't in the history books in the US. A racist American named William Walker invaded Nicaragua in 1855 with a small army and declared himself President of the newly independent country the following year.
Walker instituted slavery, and made English the official language of a country where no one spoke the language.
In the U.S., President Franklin Pierce recognized Walker's illegitimate Nicaraguan government.
In the U.S., President Franklin Pierce recognized Walker's illegitimate Nicaraguan government.
Walker occupied the country for nearly two years. He returned in 1860 to try to steal Nicaragua again, but was unsuccessful. He was executed in Honduras.
We can talk about Panama (which the US forced the creation of away from Colombia because they wanted a canal), Cuba, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, and virtually every Latin American country where the US has interfered.
Also how did Puerto Rico become part of the US?
Also how did Puerto Rico become part of the US?
Among other things, the US intervened in Cuba and propped up a repressive regime in that country, grabbed half of Mexico, forced the creation of Panama and held its most valuable asset for nearly a century, and deposed the democratically elected left-leaning leader of Guatemala.
Even Puerto Ricoâs status as a second-class territory harkens back to Americaâs neocolonial past.
Cuba may be an impoverished state but will it ever get part of its soil (Guantanamo Bay) back from the US? Unlikely.
Cuba may be an impoverished state but will it ever get part of its soil (Guantanamo Bay) back from the US? Unlikely.
In order to provide a cheap and plentiful supply of fresh fruit and to maintain exploitative business practices, the US interceded on behalf of the United Fruit Company in propping up repressive Latin American regimes. Thatâs the unfortunate origin of the phrase âbanana republicâ
Suffice it to say- from Canada to Chile- every nation in the North and South America has been subject to American hegemony ad interventionism. This is the US and most people here don't know about it because they are insular. Now, the chickens have come to roost.
Even the tragedy of violence in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia harkens back to the ill-advised War on Drugs. The US is simply incapable of stopping the flow of drugs or reducing the demand in country, and is hell bent of strong-arming other nations instead.
And as @awrytro pointed out, we can't forget the influence of the CIA in the coup against Allende and his death in Chile. Or as @zunguzungu noted, the insurrection in Texas. Or the land grab of the Mexican-American War and the Spanish-American War.
We heard the last time the Capitol was occupied was by the British during the War of 1812. What most people omit to mention is the US started the war and had it won, it would've annexed Canada.
Two inextricably linked chapters of American history are the genocide of indigenous people and the slavery of Black people. Many of the Founding Fathers owned slaves. There is a throughline from the colonies to Donald Trump and the events of yesterday.
