United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this Tuesday (10) that President Donald Trump’s second term sees a great opportunity to redesign US relations with Latin America, combining instruments of economic and military power to influence political directions in the region.
“I think this is a generational opportunity,” said Bessent, during an event promoted by BTG Pactual, in São Paulo.
According to him, Latin American governments interested in adopting more pro-market policies would have been neglected during the Barack Obama administration, which, in the secretary’s view, would have represented a lost chance for greater economic rapprochement.
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Bessent cited Argentina as one of the main examples of recent American action. The US Treasury offered economic support to then-candidate Javier Milei during the election period, amid what he classified as destabilization attempts promoted by forces linked to Kirchnerism.
“President Trump endorsed him, and there were attempts to use market forces to cause him to lose support,” he said. According to Bessent, economic support helped to get through the electoral period, which he classified as “remarkably successful”, with performance above expectations at the polls.
When talking about Brazil, Bessent stated that, after a “bumpy” start, Trump and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva established a “good personal relationship”.
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“Markets tend to react first to the possibility of good policies, with repricing, and then there may be volatility. It will be up to governments to deliver,” he said. Despite this, he said he was optimistic about the region and reinforced that the US wants to support Latin American countries that adopt policies considered responsible.
President Lula, accompanied by a Brazilian delegation, is expected to meet with Trump and his economic and commercial team in Washington in the first week of March. The government’s expectation is to unlock points that were still pending from the agreement that suspended most of the tariffs against Brazil.
Regarding other countries in the region, Bessent said that the intervention and extradition of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela highlighted the US military strength, and that authorities who currently command the country would be cooperating with Washington to lead to “free and fair elections”.
The secretary also stated that he saw signs of recovery in other countries in the region, citing Chile, after a period that he classified as “temporary insanity”, and Bolivia, which, according to him, would seek to return to the international economic system after decades of socialist policies.
Dollar, economy and Fed
Bessent stated that the Trump administration’s “strong dollar” policy is not about direct interventions in the exchange rate, but about strengthening the fundamentals of the American economy to attract capital. The secretary said he did not see structural weakness in the dollar, attributing recent movements more to recovery and reforms in other economies than to a loss of prominence of the American currency as a global reserve.
Regarding the American economy, the Treasury Secretary stated that the Trump administration seeks to prevent the USA from entering a scenario of stagnation similar to Europe, marked by high debt, increased taxes and low growth.
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Commenting on the choice of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, Bessent said the government was looking for a Fed president with an “open mind”, and not someone committed to a prior interest rate agenda. He stated that Warsh brings together macroeconomic experience and familiarity with technology, which would be relevant given the advancement of artificial intelligence.
