When you’re talking about democracy promotion - as it’s defined in these cables, and generally talked about in Washington - you’re talking about supporting a very narrow form of democracy called polyarchy. So you have rule by a limited range of people.

CEPR’s Dan Beeton examines US policies in Latin America through a cache of its own leaked diplomatic cables, and finds efforts to undermine democratically elected governments and isolate popular, leftist leaders for the sake of corporate profit and political advantage.

Dan is a contributor to The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire from Verso Books.