A represents yet another boost to President Donald Trump’s aggressive diplomatic agenda in Latin Americaa contrast to its difficulties in the Middle East and Europe.
Since Trump returned to the White House a year and a half ago, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador e Honduras turned to the right or confirmed the already existing conservative shift.
- Argentina: Javier Milei;
- Bolivia: Rodrigo Paz Pereira;
- Chile: José Antonio Kast;
- Colombia: Petro is still president, but Abelardo de la Espriella won the elections on Sunday;
- Costa Rica: Laura Fernández Delgado;
- Ecuador: Daniel Noboa;
- Honduras: Nasry Asfura;
Washington now targets Cubacommon practically total oil blockade which forced the communist government to approve economic reforms in a hurry.
The drastic policy barely provoked protests from Mexico and Brazil, the last two major strongholds of the left in the region, and from Colombia under Gustavo Petro, now about to leave office.
Lawyer De la Espriella “speaks the language that many in Washington want to hear: more hard-line,” Rebecca Bill Chavez, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, explains to AFP.
Axis with Ecuador and Colombia
In March of this year, after the spectacular military operation against Maduro in Caracas, Trump founded, together with allied presidents from the region, the alliance Shield of the Americas.
“Colombia will join” this alliance, predicts Evan Ellis, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “I expect more Colombian collaboration against groups designated as terrorists in the region, far beyond Colombia”, he adds.
One of the points of contention in the ambitious American regional security agenda was the friction between Ecuadorian presidents Daniel Noboa e Colombian Gustavo Petrodue to anti-drug operations in Washington and Quito.
“With Daniel Noboa, De la Espriella and Washington in the same direction, politics has not been so aligned in years” on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, says Chavez.
Several conservative governments in the region have adopted the Trump’s anti-drug policy and mega-prisons of Salvadoran Nayib Bukele.
End of solidarity
In Washington, public debates within the Organization of American States (OAS) show that the ideological shift is not just due to pressure from Trump.
A Latin America began to see organized crime and migratory pressure in a different wayas shown in Chile, where the issue boosted the victory of conservative José Antonio Kast.
The solidarity that Latin American countries have shown for years towards Cuba is barely noticeable today.
“Cuba is under real economic and social pressure, and the region is changing politically. This creates opportunities, but also risks”, warns Chávez.
“As happened in Venezuela, the logical step is military demonstrations, possibly followed by attacks,” says Ellis.
