Colombia Accepts the Monroe Doctrine
Colombia just elected Abelardo de la Espriella by a razor-thin margin — and before taking office on August 7, he’s already announced his foreign policy. It sounds exactly like Marco Rubio’s: full restoration of relations with Israel, embassy to Jerusalem, out of the ICJ case, diplomatic ties with Cuba and Nicaragua cut (“no ties whatsoever to tyrannies”), and Medellín named headquarters of Washington’s new hemispheric security alliance.
Why would a brand-new president align this completely, this fast? Because he read the board. In the last ten months: Gustavo Petro — visa revoked, personally sanctioned, named a DEA priority target. Nicolás Maduro — captured at Fuerte Tiuna, now jailed in New York. Ayatollah Khamenei — dead. Raúl Castro — indicted for the 1996 shootdown of American aircraft. When the regional hegemon demonstrates the payoff matrix that clearly, alignment stops being one option among several and becomes the dominant strategy. That’s the Monroe Doctrine, operating again, two hundred years on.
I’ve spent nearly 30 years in strategic intelligence analyzing exactly these dynamics — how states read power, and what happens to the ones who misread it.
The U.S. investigations of Gustavo Petro are reported probes; he has not been charged. The charges against Nicolás Maduro and Raúl Castro are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent. Forward-looking remarks are analysis and commentary, not statements of fact.
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Sources:
Al Jazeera, June 22–24, 2026 (runoff result; Israel policy)
Jerusalem Post, July 2026 (Petro election claims; annulment suit July 21)
De la Espriella announcement, July 27, 2026 (Cuba, Nicaragua, 14 embassies)
MercoPress, July 27, 2026 (Medellín, Shield of the Americas)
Islander News, June 2026 (U.S. citizenship, Miami residence)
El Espectador (Alex Saab on de la Espriella, counsel 2013–2019)
DEA / U.S. prosecutors via NYT and Boston.com, March 20, 2026 (Petro probe)
PBS / CBS News, January 2026 (Maduro capture and detention)
Al Jazeera, February 28, 2026 (Khamenei)
U.S. Department of Justice, May 20, 2026 (Castro indictment)
