I agree with Stephen Kinzer’s March 20 Opinion piece on intervention as a staple of US foreign policy (“Thinning flock, still full of hawks’’). I think, to offer some historical context, that we also brought democracy to most of Central and South America — Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Grenada, Chile, Brazil, and Honduras. Many of these interventions ended in bloodbaths, torture, and military dictatorships, and we proudly call this the American Century. The people of these countries might more aptly call it hell on earth.

These, of course, were all so-called backward countries that required our guidance so they could “do the right thing,’’ which usually involved having governments suitably subservient to US economic interests. These interventions were never about the people of these countries, though they were often couched in those terms.

When presidential candidate Donald Trump appeals to our xenophobia, it might be well to remember that it was US interventionist policies that made these countries uninhabitable for many of their citizens. We are reaping the fruit of our policies.

It is worth noting that all our presidents, whether Republican or Democrat, have been interventionist.

Robert Kuljian, Lexington