Legal Definitions - Drago doctrine

Definition: The Drago Doctrine is a principle that states that no public debt should be collected from a sovereign state by force or through the occupation of American territory by a foreign power. It was asserted by Luis Drago, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic, in a letter to the Argentine Minister in Washington in 1902.

For example, when Great Britain and others used forcible coercion to collect unpaid loans from Venezuela, Luis Drago argued that this was not acceptable. He believed that a foreign power should not be allowed to occupy American territory to collect a debt from a sovereign state. This principle was later modified and adopted at the Hague Conference of 1907.

Definition: Drain refers to the act of drawing a liquid off gradually or the act of gradually exhausting something. It can also refer to a conduit for draining liquid, such as a ditch or a pipe.

For example, a farmer may drain water from their property by using a pipe or ditch to gradually draw the water off. Similarly, a facility may drain the area's natural resources by gradually exhausting them over time. In both cases, the liquid or resources are being removed gradually and over a period of time.