Cuba In The 21st Century

I argue that the United States fails to encompass moral values by supporting anti-democratic ideals so that they can increase their militaristic presence and protect economic interests in the world. Since the last century, the U.S has used the power of evil governments to slightly expand the presence of their military and ensure the safety of commercial interests. From Cuba in the early 20th century to numerous Middle Eastern countries in the 21st century, the case has been evident that the U.S. will overlook various human rights violations just for an additional military base or for the profits of a company. The claim is made that the United States should look out for itself and act in ways that improve the American society. The U.S. has lost …show more content…
The greatest example of this was the heavy presence of the U.S. in Latin America and parts of Asia. Just as the country was swept into a war with Mexico, they were swept into a war with Spain. In the late 1800’s, Cuba was fighting for their independence from Spain. The U.S. had backed Cuba as they believed it was right for them to fight for their democracy just as the U.S. had done the same a hundred years ago. The real reasons for the war were shadowy journalism that showed anti-Spanish sentiment and increased pressure on the president to acquire lands in other parts of the world. Just as the U.S. won easily against Mexico, they won easily against the Spanish. The United States acquired numerous lands, including in addition to Cuba were The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. This increased Americans view of imperialism. Historian Louis Perez emphasizes this as he says, “the Spanish–American War of 1898 "fixed permanently how Americans came to think of themselves: a righteous people given to the service of righteous purpose" (Perez, 1998). Americans believed they were ready to constantly be in international affairs and act as an international police. As stated earlier, The United States acquired the Islands of the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. The Philippines had been involved in a revolutionary against the Spanish at the time of the …show more content…
They would have 25 interventions in different Latin American countries. Many of these interventions were enacted to protect several governments that the U.S. saw as necessary, even though many of those governments housed dictators. For example, according to Yachana.org, “the longest occupation the U.S. had in Latin America was in Nicaragua” (Becker, 2011). From 1912-1933, the United States had several interventions in Nicaragua which resulted in various presidents and battles between the rebels and the government the U.S. supported. The U.S. did not care about the people in Nicaragua, as they only valued the economic interests of the country for their own purposes. Other countries such as Honduras were ravaged for their economic interests. During the early 20th century, the U.S. sent wave after wave of troops to protect the interests of the fruit companies. These wars were called the Banana wars due to the fact that the U.S. was only interested for the interest of the fruit companies in the United States. Since the U.S. was constantly in these Latin countries it caused instability and a rift between the people and the countries which would continue to play out for the rest of the 20th century. The continued absence of moral values shows in these wars, as the only reason they were involved were for economic interests. Also, the lack of moral values shows from the failing