What is the big stick in the Caribbean Sea?

"The Big Stick in the Caribbean Sea" is a political cartoon by W.A. Rogers that was published in 1904. It depicts then-president Theodore Roosevelt striding through the Caribbean holding a giant stick, followed by a fleet of steamboats.

The cartoon satirizes the expansion of the Monroe Doctrine by depicting the giant Roosevelt striding toward Panama, Cuba, Santo Domingo and Mexico. Roosevelt had famously summarized his attitude toward foreign policy with the phrase "Speak softly, and carry a big stick." Roosevelt believed that the United States should intervene in the affairs of other countries in the Western Hemisphere, including military intervention in Latin American countries.