In Vicki’s View #9: The Return of the Evil Empire

Dear LAWGista,

In less than three months, the Trump administration has unleashed complete chaos across Latin America and the Caribbean. So far, they have:

• Abducted the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores;
• Signed a one-sided bilateral trade agreement with El Salvador, which gives the U.S. unrestricted access to the country’s minerals and gold;
• Issued an executive order threatening to impose tariffs on any country that exports oil to Cuba, bringing the island’s already struggling economy to a grinding halt.
• Bombed ten more boats off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, bringing the total to 46 deadly attacks with 157 people killed since September 2025; 
• Initiated joint military operations in Ecuador targeting “designated terrorist organizations”; and
• Launched the “Shield of the Americas,” a campaign to deploy U.S. and allied troops against “narco-terrorists” across the region.

All this just in our hemisphere, and apart from the unconstitutional war on Iran at an exorbitant cost of more than one billion dollars a day and thousands of lives lost.

Make no mistake: this isn’t about drugs, democracy, or national security. It’s about dominance, and who gets to control the region’s resources and people. This reckless use of force shows an administration that has abandoned its own campaign promises to end forever wars and to lower the cost of living.

The mask is off. This is the new Monroe Doctrine—a foreign policy that reasserts U.S. hegemony in the hemisphere by wielding military might to prop up corporate interests.

But LAWG is fighting back. We are:

• Joining the Nuestra América Convoy to deliver humanitarian aid and bear witness to the humanitarian crisis in Cuba;
• Pressing Congress to withhold funding to El Salvador until the regime releases the 98 political prisoners, including Ruth López, who has spent nearly 300 days in prison without due process; and
• Organizing House members to pass the New Good Neighbor Act to end the Monroe Doctrine and replace it with policies that protect human rights and address the root causes of migration.

We are also working hard to keep you informed and give you the tools to advocate for policies that champion human rights here at home and abroad.

Stay with us—because this fight is far from over. 

Adelante,

Vicki Gass
LAWG Executive Director