Well then you would know that US influence in Central and South America during the 20th century has often led to the debasement of civil society and the democratic process, people remaining ignorant savages under the poor rule of a brutal local American-sponsored dictator/oligarchy. Hey, that kind of reminds me of the Middle East!
My point being that there is a lot more complexity to the cynical distrust of US foreign meddling than random "savagery and ignorance".
We hardly "debased" their society. We did throw in with a lot political cacafuegos who would have thrown in with the Soviets had it not been for us.
I suppose you think they'd have been better off had they done that?
The fact they felt they had to "throw in" with anyone reflects their weaknesses more than any accusations of any "debasement" to their society.
Circa 1970 I had the opportunity to visit Venezuela. I did not find anybody there to be "debased" or "savage" or even ignorant. We became good friends with a gentlman there who drove a cab for a living ...before we left he invited us to his house to meet his family. It would be nice to think a cabdriver in America could make enough $ to buy a house like that, plus he had enough books in his study to make a nice library, had he so desired.
Ignorant? No way.
He remained a good family friend for many years until his very untimely death from natural causes.
I have to wonder what life in Venezuela is like now, under Hugo Chavez .....
Not so good, I would think.