Roll Over, Monroe.(World Affairs)(Monroe Doctrine )

Byline: Joseph Contreras

The influence the United States once claimed as a divine right in Latin America is slipping away, fast.

From Tijuana to Tierra Del Fuego, American rivals are making rapid inroads into a region that the United States has long regarded as its natural sphere of influence. Though the United States remains Latin America's largest trading partner by far, Russia, China and Iran are cutting deals, opening up new markets and building diplomatic ties. Even North Korea has forged diplomatic relations with Guatemala and the Dominican Republic in recent weeks as Washington's focus remains stuck on the Middle East. "The Monroe Doctrine that the United States has had for nearly two centuries has completely gone out the window," says Alejandro Sanchez, a research fellow at the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs.

That frank recognition shows just how much U.S. clout has waned in Latin America in today's global era. In the early 20th century, Washington regularly sent in Marines to prop up friendly dictators and defend U.S. companies in the region. During the cold war, U.S. administrations used the Organization of American States to fight Latin communists. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States pulled back on the hardball geopolitical games as Latin governments rushed to embrace a Washington-backed free-market economic model. Clinton administration officials concentrated on counternarcotics initiatives and the promotion of free trade, and George W. Bush kicked off his first term heralding the dawn of a century of the Americas.

Now Latin America is free to pick its friends, and the rise of populists and pragmatists is sounding the death knell for U.S. hegemony. In Venezuela Hugo Chavez is pushing to create a multipolar balance of power designed explicitly to diminish Washington's authority. Soaring oil prices helped solidify his clout, and while many of Chavez's neighbors are skeptical of him, they are aggressively diversifying away from the United States for their own reasons. In recent years Chile has ratified its status as Latin America's leading economic showcase by signing free-trade agreements with China, South Korea, Japan and the European Union. In 2005, a summit in Brazil drew delegations from 22 Arab countries and a dozen Latin American nations. Over the ...