And then there is the urgent geopolitical issue
“After years of abandonment, the United States will reaffirm and enforce the Monroe Doctrine.” Donald Trump
“After years of abandonment, the United States will reaffirm and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere and protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region.” Donald J. Trump June 2024
The doctrine of the then President of the United States, James Monroe, was presented to Congress in a state message in 1823, when the nation proclaimed its intention to be the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere against the European nations that colonized the region.
Puerto Rico began to be the subject of that policy with the Treaty of Paris in 1898, which decided the Spanish-American War and distributed the spoils. Sad trajectory that has us cannon fodder in the military efforts of the empire. With citizenship came the obligation to serve in the army and make their wars, without us voting for their leaders. We have battalions and segregated and degraded regiments that give names to monuments and avenues that are part of our history.
It is estimated that 9,000 Puerto Ricans have died serving in the United States Armed Forces since Puerto Rico’s participation in US military conflicts, starting from World War I to more recent conflicts such as the Iraq and Afghan War.
In recent times, the resurgence of the expansionist policy began to be noticeable at the end of August, when military exercises of the Marine Corps were announced. Part of a mobilization that seeks to combat international drug trafficking, with a special interest in destabilizing the presidency of Venezuela.
Currently, the main active military bases in Puerto Rico are:
The active military presence in Puerto Rico is usually between 8,000 and 10,000 soldiers among active, reserve and National Guard.
U.S. Military bases in Puerto Rico.
The political and security situation in Venezuela has generated an increase in the strategic attention of the United States towards the Caribbean region, including Puerto Rico, due to its geographical proximity and its role as US territory.
Regarding the movement of military personnel in Puerto Rico, an increase in exercises, surveillance and patrols is carried out in the region, with the National Guard of Puerto Rico and other units performing training including maritime and air surveillance. Additional units have been mobilized to Puerto Rico to strengthen the military presence, although a massive or permanent deployment of conventional combat troops has not been reported. Puerto Rico serves as a strategic point for coordination with regional allies and humanitarian aid or immigration control operations linked to the Venezuelan crisis.
The USS Gerald Ford has been deployed to the Caribbean.
It is reported that 15,000 soldiers have been located in the Caribbean, where a dozen warships have been deployed, including the main American aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, as well as dozens of F-35B fighter jets, AC-130 helicopters and drones. The news makes constant reference to the devastating sinking of boats, the misdeeds of the Secretary of War and the diplomatic notion of the president.
Matter that forces reflection and positioning. Our situation is not at all enviable. The territorial character, especially in geopolitical matters, is decisive. We are property but not part. The absolute defenselessness that our interests have versus those of a militaristic oligarchy, grow now that they resume a retrograde philosophy and a history of abusive interventions. Aggravated everything with an annexationist local administration, a republican governor afraid of the president and a history of claims that seems to move further away.
Who can help us? Who saves us from indignation and safeguards our courage in the face of unreasonableness and blundering? Who gives us back some optimism? Who takes away the idea that there is no evil that lasts a hundred years when we have been in centuries of resistance? It forced me to think that personal salvation is difficult but possible. The lack of will for collective redemption makes me desperate. Everything has been said or written. What was done…
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Copyright 2025 by Jose Umpierre.