Concept in Definition ABC

The verb graft has several uses. On botany There is talk of grafting plants, it can refer to putting one thing in another, the introduction of a word or a phrase in a writing or meddling in other people's affairs. However, the usual use of the noun interference refers to the idea of intervention of one country in the affairs of another.

This concept is normally used in the context of political and economic relations between nations. Thus, if the government of a nation If you think about a different nation, it is very likely that you will be accused of interference.

There are two possible approaches. One of them has a negative meaning and, on the contrary, the other is based on a positive approach.

The sovereignty of a nation must be governed by the will of its citizens and without the interference of other nations

In the International right there is a general principle, that of non-intervention or non-interference. This principle implies that it is not legitimate for one nation to impose its will on another. The

imperialism, the colonialism or the various forms of taxation of the law of the strongest are approaches that oppose this principle.

In some cases there is non-explicit interference, as can occur in relation to free trade agreements, which are sometimes considered as silent interference.

The interference of the United States in Latin America

Since the United States became a great world power, there have been several episodes of interference in Latin American countries, both politically and economically. Thus, the regimes of Pinochet in Chile, of Batista in Cuba or the control of the Panama Canal are clear examples of interventionism by the United States throughout history.

Humanitarian interference

On some occasions, a state is intervened militarily not with the intention of occupying it but precisely to free it from a violent situation. This type of intervention or interference is due to humanitarian causes.

Imagine that a group of countries decide to join forces to overthrow the tyrannical regime of another nation and in this way put an end to a dictatorship that subjugates the whole of the population. In these types of circumstances, the interference would have a humanitarian component and, therefore, it would be an interventionism that is not oppressive but liberating.

Photos: Fotolia - Strezhnev Pavel / Steinar

Issues in Interference