Back to Monroe????

It was US President Monroe who said, in 1823, that the US would control the Western Hemisphere.

Back in 1823, the US were too weak to control the entire Western Hemisphere, but by 1898, the US could and did neo-colonise most of  Latin America.

But things change. Logistics meant the US armed forces had a huge logistical advantage over European armed forces if the US were fighting the Europeans in the Western Hemisphere, an advantage the US used to make most of Latin America into a US neo-colony.

But now, the PRC have the power, but not the interest, to engage in a long war with the US.

The US press say that Xi intends to re-take all of Taiwan before the end of 2027, just about two years away. Not clear what, exactly, Xi actually said or intends, but the Western media want to US to go to war with the PRC, since that will sell lots of newspapers and TV news and get the people who don't trust the mainstream media to pay for podcast news.

The main thing is that the PRC have started buying Venezuelan oil, some of the most sour oil in the world, oil that, before, only the US had the technology to refine, but now the PRC also have the technology to refine, and have built several of the specialised refineries that can refine Venezuelan oil.

So will Xi abide by the requirements of the Monroe doctrine, or will he say the PRC have invested a lot in Venezuelan oil, and intend to have all that they have paid for?