Search

The statement on November 2013 by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, that "the Monroe era is over" is an excellent opportunity to rediscuss this, which is considered one of the guiding principles of North American foreign policy for Latin America ever since the independence of Latin American States. This paper intends to shed light on an aspect often overlooked by the analyses concerning the Monroe Doctrine, which is the fact that this doctrine, far from being a concrete policy for the whole continent, had two rather distinct traits from both the rhetorical and the political point of view. Through mainly the bibliographical review of literature produced in the US, in special that which had access to primary sources, this paper shows the Monroe Doctrine had a clearly Caribbean--and not Latin American--character, from the acknowledgement, by both US and South American policy-makers, that South America was a system apart from North America. Thus, this paper champions that to South Panama the Monroe Doctrine acquired a considerably more "multilateral" aspect, which has been shown even by its famous Roosevelt Corollary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]