WASHINGTON, December 2. /TASS/. The US desire to drive a wedge into Russia's relations with Latin American countries is futile, the Russian Embassy in Washington said in connection with the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine.

"Washington's futile desire to drive a wedge into Russia's relations with Latin American states can be seen by the unaided eye," the Russian embassy pointed out. "Unlike the United States, the Russian Federation does not insist to ‘be friends against someone,’ but stands for truly pragmatic, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. The US Administration should have thrown the long-outdated Monroe Doctrine into the dustbin of history," the Russian diplomats said in a commentary.

According to them, "Washington's destructive actions around the globe, including in Latin America, confirm that this infamous anachronism of US foreign policy has by no means sunk into oblivion." "The administration's approaches to building a dialogue with the continent essentially boil down to the impudent promotion of the notorious ‘rules-based order,’ the imposition of alien values and ideals," the Russian embassy noted.

"Here, by inertia, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean continue to be considered as a ‘backyard’," the diplomats pointed out. "Obviously, the neocolonial policy of the United States has not disappeared after two centuries. It has only acquired new forms. Its vivid personification is attempts to ‘twist the hands’ of regional partners in determining foreign policy, outright blackmail for ‘disobedience’ and defending their sovereign path of development," the statement said.

The Monroe Doctrine was formulated in 1823 by US President James Monroe (1817-1825). It was based on the idea that the countries of the Western Hemisphere should not get involved in the conflicts of European states, but in practice it often served to justify US leadership in the region, interference of some nations in the internal affairs of others, and expansionism.

In September 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the US plans to "give the Monroe Doctrine a global projection" are extremely dangerous. According to him, the attempts to extend NATO's area of responsibility to the entire Eastern Hemisphere under the sly slogan of "indivisibility of the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions" have become a new dangerous manifestation of NATO expansionism.