Podcast Summary: Carne Cruda #1612

Episode Title: América no es EEUU: dos siglos de imperialismo yanqui (PUTO MIKEL - CARNE CRUDA #1612)
Date: February 2, 2026
Host: La República Independiente
Guests: Miquel, Mario Espinoza Pino (filósofo político), Alejandro López Canorea (analista político), Carolina Meloni (filósofa), varios colaboradores

Overview

This episode dives into the history and ongoing reality of U.S. imperialism across Latin America and beyond. Drawing connections from the Monroe Doctrine through interventions in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, the hosts and guests analyze how ideological, economic, military, and cultural tools have justified American supremacy over the Americas—and how these mechanisms have evolved, climaxing with Trump’s renewed expansionism. The conversation is both deeply historical and unapologetically satirical, with the contributors oscillating between rigorous criticism and sharp humor.

Key Segments & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: America is Not the USA

[00:00-02:22]

• The episode starts with an email from Javier, a Spaniard in Minneapolis, thanking Carne Cruda for covering the federal occupation of Minnesota and emphasizing grassroots resistance.
• The hosts reflect on far-right persecution of dissenters in the U.S., referencing Bad Bunny’s Grammy speech:

  “No somos salvajes, no somos animales, somos humanos. Y somos americanos.” (Bad Bunny, 01:43)

• The main question: How did the U.S. go from anti-European colonial rhetoric (Monroe Doctrine) to a hemispheric empire persecuting Latin Americans and dissenters domestically?

2. Roots of U.S. Imperialism: Monroe Doctrine and Destiny

[02:22–07:17]

• The speakers dramatize Monroe’s 1823 declaration, setting the “hemisphere off-limits” to European powers, yet institutionalizing U.S. primacy.
• Miquel and guests break it down:
  • Monroe Doctrine: Proclaimed non-interference, but covertly justified future U.S. interventions.
  • Manifest Destiny: Merged puritan providence, racial superiority, and Enlightenment “progress” into an ideology of chosen people expanding westward.

    “La Providencia... se concreta en la doctrina del Destino manifiesto… la expansión hacia el oeste… no es otra cosa que el genocidio de los pueblos nativo americanos.” (Mario Espinoza, 07:45)

  • These myths persist, now branded by Trump as the “Don Row Doctrine.”

3. Imperial Continuity: 19th Century to Trump

[07:17–13:53]

• From Texas to Venezuela:

  • U.S. colonists exploited Mexican invitations to populate northern territories, eventually breaking away and facilitating annexation (Texas, California).
  • Economic power fueled military intervention: “America for the Americans” meant, de facto, “for the U.S.”

    “Para los americanos del norte los únicos americanos son ellos mismos.” (Diego Portales, 15:49)

  • Today, Trump’s ambitions to buy Greenland or annex Canada echo these historic claims.

• Tools of 21st-century expansion:

  • Not always outright invasion—military “muscle” ensures nations comply under threat.

    “No le hace falta invadir… le hace falta ese ejército para imponer esa tutela y que los países se rindan ante la amenaza…” (Alejandro, 13:53)

4. Doctrines, Corollaries, and Instruments of Power

[16:15–36:41]

• The Monroe Doctrine’s evolution:

  • Originally just anti-Europe, it morphed into active U.S. policing—culminating with the Roosevelt Corollary (“policeman of the hemisphere”) and Olney Corollary (U.S. as “arbiter” in Latin American disputes).

    “El corolario Roosevelt... es el elemento importante. El sur de América es el patio trasero, y va a intervenir militarmente…” (Mario Espinoza, 16:15)

• Three-pronged imperial strategy:

  1. Ideological (Propaganda):

     • From Edward Bernays’ mass persuasion, through “American exceptionalism” and cultural imperialism (Hollywood, pop culture), to the digital age’s social media “war.”

     “Guerra cultural que hoy vemos reproducirse en redes procede… de técnicas de propaganda que ya pusieron en marcha a principios del siglo XX.” (Carolina Meloni, 18:36)

  2. Economic:

     • “Dollar diplomacy” and institutions like IMF and World Bank enforce U.S.-favored neoliberalism—privatizing resources, generating debt dependency, and promoting “eternal vassalage.”

     “FMI es sinónimo de hambre, de miseria, de devaluación de las economías…” (Carolina, 20:15)

  3. Political/Military:

     • Direct coups, financing dictatorships, covert actions (Plan Cóndor, School of the Americas).

     “EEUU se ha garantizado siempre su éxito imperialista, ya sea a base de terror económico… o directamente a base de terror a secas.” (Carolina, 20:41)

5. Economic Imperialism & Corporate Interests

[28:30–34:07]

• Role of U.S. corporations:

  • Banana republics: United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Banana) controlled entire national economies, backed by U.S. military or mercenary force.
  • Interventionism often justified as “protecting democracy,” while defending specific multinational interests.

    “Cuando las empresas ven sus intereses limitados… hay una intervención militar... financiando paramilitares.” (Mario, 28:53)

• Pop culture as soft power:

  • “Carmen Miranda con sus sombreros de frutas” becomes a symbol for exploiting and rebranding Latin American identity for U.S. profit.

6. The Cold War: Red Scare and Covert Destabilization

[36:41–43:16]

• Anti-communism as new justification:

  • The Monroe Doctrine is dusted off to fight socialism: from the coup against Allende in Chile (1973) to supporting ruthless dictatorships (Plan Cóndor)—the U.S. becomes a global “mafioso.”

  • Rationalizations pivot from “destiny” to “security,” but the rationale for controlling the hemisphere persists:

    “Este marco ideológico permitiría una nueva fase del imperialismo yanqui en el que la intervención militar se enunciaría como una salvación... de las evidentes garras del comunismo.” (Miquel, 38:44)

  • Enormous human cost:

    “El resultado [Plan Cóndor] fueron decenas de miles de exiliados… unos 80.000 asesinados y casi medio millón de presos políticos.” (C, 43:28)
    “Producción casi sistemática de tercermundización… cifras de muertos, traumas, huellas indelebles.” (Carolina, 44:06)

7. Present Day: Trump’s “Naked” Imperialism & Erosion of Liberal Legitimacy

[47:45–52:46]

• Trump’s corollary:

  • More aggressive, explicit, and less concerned about “democratic” or “human rights” justifications; instead, appeals to “security” and “interest.”

    “Ya no importa... nos saltamos cualquier tipo de dimensión democrática… directamente es lo que necesitamos para prosperar los norteamericanos y punto.” (Mario, 25:00)

• Disdain for soft power:

  • Withdrawal from multilateral institutions; blunt, transactional geopolitics.
  • Hollywood’s narrative manufacturing, once key to imperial hegemony, now “despreciado” (“disdained”) by the Trumpists.

• International law as convenient fiction:
  > “El derecho internacional siempre ha tenido aplicaciones muy concretas dependiendo también de las potencias.” (Mario, 50:12) > “Ese derecho internacional es humo para justificarse.” (Alejandro, 52:06)

8. Resistance & Possibilities: Can the Empire Be Contested?

[53:21–56:25]

• Spaces for resistance exist—internal (protests in the U.S.) and international (Latin America’s grassroots movements)—but the costs of intervention linger for generations.

• The show concludes soberly, recognizing the enduring damage yet noting that solidarity and protest create “cartografías de resistencia.” > “Lo único que es cierto que por donde pasa Estados Unidos tardan muchos años en crecer la hierba...” (Mario, 53:30)

• Questions about alternative multilateralism emerge, seeing hope but acknowledging the systemic challenges and cycles of intervention.

9. Memorable Quotes & Satirical Highlights

• Bad Bunny at the Grammys:

  “No somos salvajes, no somos animales, somos humanos. Y somos americanos.” (01:43)

• “Para los americanos del norte, los únicos americanos son ellos mismos.” (Diego Portales, 15:49)
• On imperial euphemisms:

  “América para los americanos, concretamente para los de Estados Unidos.” (B, 15:36)

• Satirical intervention:

  “Si Estados Unidos viera lo que Estados Unidos está haciendo en los Estados Unidos, los invadiría para liberar a Estados Unidos.” (Mohamed Safa, citado por Miquel, 56:46)

Notable Timestamps & Segments

• [00:10] – Listener message from Javier in Minneapolis, setting tone of grassroots resistance
• [01:43] – Bad Bunny’s Grammy speech
• [05:25–07:17] – Origins and evolution of the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny
• [11:58–13:53] – Texas, Mexican-American War, and modern echoes with Trump
• [15:36–16:15] – The “America for Americans” fallacy and U.S. exceptionalism
• [18:36–20:15] – Carolina Meloni on propaganda, neoliberal economics, and endless vassalage
• [28:53] – Mario on the role of private enterprise in imperial expansion
• [36:41–43:16] – Cold War coups and the “Red Scare” as justification
• [44:06] – Carolina Meloni on trauma and the “third-worldization” caused by U.S. interventions
• [50:12–52:06] – Questioning “international law” as tool of imperial power
• [53:30–56:25] – Discussion of resistance, multilateralism, and future prospects

Tone and Style

The podcast mixes rigorous historical analysis with dark humor, satire, and pop culture references (from “El Zorro” to Carmen Miranda). The language is direct, irreverent, and combative—both academic and accessible, never shying away from naming imperialism, exploitation, or the complicity of liberal democracies.

Conclusion

This episode offers a sweeping yet detailed critique of U.S. imperialism in the Americas, asking listeners to question not just the rhetoric of “freedom” and “democracy” but also the economic and cultural strategies that sustain tutelage, dependency, and trauma across continents. The contributors challenge listeners to resist not only the blatant affronts of contemporary authoritarians like Trump, but also the subtler, systemic forms of domination embedded in “soft power,” international law, and corporate interests. 

Closing anthem: Carlos Puebla’s "Yankees Go Home"—a reminder that, as long as imperialism persists, so will voices of resistance.