July 8 - President Donald Trump's administration sought on Wednesday to rally Latin American nations behind a revamped Monroe Doctrine, the 19th-century policy asserting U.S. primacy across the Americas that critics associate with decades of U.S. intervention.

Invoking the so-called "Donroe Doctrine" — a play on Trump's name —  in the Peruvian city of Cusco, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby explained a dramatic policy shift in which the U.S. military started striking drug boats in the fall and deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in January.

The Pentagon is also planning to carry out joint counter-narcotics strikes with like-minded countries, a policy already under way in Ecuador.

"No longer do we separate America's defense strategy from the concerns of regular Americans – from the flood of lethal drugs into their communities and the accompanying horrendous violence, or from the impact of unchecked illegal migration into our nation," Colby said, according to prepared remarks.

US SAYS NEW DOCTRINE IS ABOUT EMPOWERING OTHERS

Colby acknowledged concerns over Trump's invocation of the Monroe Doctrine, but said these were based on a "distorted" view.

"The best tradition of the Monroe Doctrine is about protecting our own security and interests by empowering and enabling Latin American nations," Colby said, addressing the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, which also includes Canada.

Critics say the U.S. rhetoric represents modern-day imperialism. But Colby said the U.S. cannot be compared to imperial states like Britain or Portugal — smaller nations that exploited colonies to accumulate wealth and power.

"The fact is that America doesn’t need your assets or your dependency," Colby said.

"America is an enormous country, by far the world’s most powerful state, with the world’s largest and most dynamic market, its most productive economy, its dominant currency, splendid stores of raw materials."