Why is sovereignty so important in Latin America?

Sovereignty is not an issue taken lightly in Latin America, as illustrated in recent days by the strong reaction to an incursion into Ecuador by Colombian troops on March 1.  Although the reaction of the presidents of Ecuador and, in particular, Venezuela may have been viewed as exaggerated, the sensitivity of any violation of sovereignty makes the reaction comprehensible.

In historical terms, such sensitivities have been fostered since independence by a tradition of US interventions -- direct and indirect -- in a number of Latin American countries. They were aimed at buttressing, or overthrowing, governments according to their perceived attitude towards US interests, or even changing national boundaries. 

The Monroe Doctrine

The parameters of US influence in Latin America were set by the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which established that extra-hemispheric interference in Latin America would be regarded as threatening to US security interests, and therefore legitimate grounds for unilateral action. The 1901 Platt Amendment to the Cuban constitution even explicitly recognised the right of the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs when it deemed necessary. 

As such, any perceived outside intervention raises immediate suspicions in Latin America and is likely to prove counter-productive -- for example, US attempts to isolate the Cuban and Venezuelan governments in recent years have more often than not had the effect of giving those leaders greater regional weight than they would otherwise have enjoyed.

At the same time, there are few countries in Latin America that have not at some point at least been involved in border disputes with their neighbours, a few of which have spilled over into wars such as the Bolivia-Paraguay Chaco war in the 1930s and the Cenepa War between Ecuador and Peru in the 1990s.  At present, pending disputes include:

• questions of maritime sovereignty between Peru and Chile and Ecuador and Peru;
• the long-standing dispute over access to the sea between Bolivia and Chile; and
• tensions between Argentina and Uruguay over the environmental impact of a pulp plant on the river boundary between the two countries. 

Other regional tensions include the presence of Colombian FARC rebels in Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil, and purported support for the FARC by Venezuela and Colombian military incursions into Ecuador - the trigger of recent regional tensions.

Sensitivity and suspicion

With so many concerns over contentious borders and the potential knock-on effects of any single cross-border incursion, it is no surprise that sensitivities over respect for sovereignty are highly developed, or that failure hotly to defend that sovereignty could increase tensions between civilian governments and their armed forces.

A key factor is the weakness of state control in much of Latin America.  Although central state bureaucracies appear large and far-reaching, in practice effective control is often limited to urban areas at best.  With long, porous and remote borders proving difficult to control with the limited resources available, suspicions can be easily fuelled at the first sign of trouble.