The extent of U.S. meddling in the governments of other countries cannot be over-estimated. It is likely always to be far greater than can be predicated based on published reports, because so much is kept secret by the government and the government fabricates its own stories that go into news stories. The U.S. meddling finds traction in foreign countries because the U.S. has so many ways to pay off, bribe, extort, blackmail and influence foreign political players. It has a vast range of positive and negative inducements, such as loans, trade deals, market access, tariff changes, humanitarian aid, military supplies, not to mention public support. This is even without using the CIA or negative information gleaned from spying.  ...