These countries are disguised vassals of the United States.

They're nominally independent but in practice are run by a local oligarchy who generally do as they please within the confines of what the US allows.

Theyre effectively all as independent as Poland or Hungary were under the Soviet Union. i.e. not.

There are the occasional anti-us imperialist and anti-oligarchy candidates who gain popularity but their careers are usually terminated with a deluge of mudslinging or by using bureaucracy to lock them out of the political system.