CELAC leaders seek regional unity in Trump context
April 10, 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro assumed the pro tempore presidency of the CELAC yesterday, at the leaders’ summit held in Tegucigalpa. He promised to seek new partners regional body, in the midst of the mounting U.S. trade war, reports El País.
While several leaders argued that Latin American and Caribbean unity will be key in this new international context, there has been no consensus on a regional response to the situation, notes El País.
“History teaches that trade wars have no victors,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He warned that Latin America and the Caribbean “run the risk” of once again finding themselves in the midst of “a division of the world between powers,” and that they must “leave indifference aside” and recover “the pluralistic and pragmatic spirit of the early 2000s,” reports EFE.
Lula proposed CELAC back a consensus female candidate from the region for the post of U.N. Secretary General next year. (Agencia Brasil) "CELAC can help restore the UN's credibility by electing the organization's first female secretary-general." He didn’t specify potential candidates, but Brazil’s foreign ministry floated former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, last week. (EFE)
Lula’s presentation represents his ongoing bid to be a multilateral leader, and ahead of a CELAC-China meeting next month in Beijing, notes Infobae.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed a summit for the economic well-being of Latin America and the Caribbean. The goal would be further integration aimed at more equal societies, and would permit countries to articulate solutions for commerce, education, science and clean energy, reports Animal Político.
Paraguay, Nicaragua and Argentina dissented from the summit’s final declaration, thwarting the consensus that is the foundational block of the group that functions as an alternative to the U.S. dominated OAS.
The main stumbling block in any attempt to unite CELAC is Argentine President Javier Milei, an unconditional ally of the U.S., according to Argentine International Relations expert Juan Gabriel Tokatlian. “When CELAC tried to sign a declaration against Trump’s threats against Panama, Argentina vetoed it. Milei is the main obstructionist of everything CELAC wants to do to confront Trump’s agenda in the region,” he told O GLOBO.
More Regional Relations
Sheinbaum and Lula met on the sidelines of the CELAC meeting and strategized how to respond Trump’s tariffs and escalating deportations, among other issues, reports the Associated Press.
Brazil is shaping up to be a potential winner in the trade war between the U.S. and China: Brazil is among the economies that escaped with the lowest "reciprocal" U.S. tariff of 10%. In addition, the agricultural giant could benefit from China's retaliatory tariffs likely to hit U.S. farm exporters, reports Reuters.
Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi met with Petro on the CELAC sidelines. They agreed to advance Latin American integration through a continental electricity grid powered by renewable energy, a regional pharmaceutical agency to produce essential medicines, and cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum mathematics, and space exploration, reports Mercopress.
Milei met with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña in Asunción yesterday — while most of the rest of the region’s leadership was at the CELAC meeting in Tegucigalpa. The two pro-U.S. leaders could unite to loosen Mercosur trade bloc regulations and permit member countries to enter into free trade agreements unilaterally, as Argentina hopes to do with the U.S., reports La Política Online.
Speaking at a regional security conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that China-based companies were controlling land and critical infrastructure in strategic sectors of the Western Hemisphere. He called on the region’s governments to work together to deter China and address threats posed by transnational drug cartels and mass immigration, reports the Associated Press.
Panama said yesterday the United States recognized its sovereignty over the Panama Canal. During Hegseth's visit this week, the U.S. and Panama issued joint statements about deepening security cooperation. But the Pentagon's English-language version did not include a sentence that was in the Spanish-language version published by Panama that spoke about Panama's sovereignty over the canal, reports Reuters.
Hegseth suggested yesterday that U.S. troops could return to Panama.
He said a deal signed with Panama this week was an “opportunity to revive, whether it’s the military base, naval air station, locations where US troops can work with Panamanian troops to enhance capabilities and cooperate in a rotational way”. (AFP)
The U.S. Senate confirmed Ronald Johnson to the post of ambassador to Mexico — he was previously Trump’s emissary to El Salvador, where some U.S. officials say we was more aligned with President Nayib Bukele than U.S. interests, reports the New York Times.
Deportations
Two U.S. federal judges, in New York and Texas, took legal action yesterday to block the government from deporting five Venezuelans until they can fight the government’s attempt to remove them under the Alien Enemy Act. (Associated Press)
While Trump’s deportation efforts have been hugely controversial, the Council on Foreign Relations notes that total numbers of deportees have been lower than expected. “According to federal data, while border crossings have plummeted, the Trump administration deported fewer people in February 2025 than the Joe Biden administration did in February the previous year. … Experts say the high number of deportations under Biden was likely in part because there was a greater number of migrants arriving at the southern U.S. border.”
Guatemala
Prensa Comunitaria and La Ruda in Guatemala have published investigations that have exposed large corruption schemes and the mechanisms used by powerful groups to co-opt the justice system, in addition to patterns of criminalization perpetrated by the Public Ministry. Now, they are facing unfounded lawsuits and intimidation, with threats of opening new legal proceedings against their organizations, denounce a group of international organizations.
Colombia
“There is a push in Colombia to have former President Alvaro Uribe run for vice president,” writes James Bosworth at Latin America Risk Report. “This would be unconstitutional. There are attempts to creatively interpret the constitution to allow it to happen anyway. Uribe’s Centro Democrático seems to be promoting the idea, with various presidential candidates trying to outdo each other with their pro-Uribe praise. Uribe has not completely shot it down.”
Mexico
“Drug lord Ernesto “Don Neto” Fonseca Carrillo, who was convicted in the 1985 killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was freed from prison after completing his 40-year sentence,” reports the Associated Press.
Mexico will open a process for $3 billion in new private sector electricity projects in May. “These projects are an opportunity for Sheinbaum to demonstrate a level of openness to US investment that will assist in other aspects of the tariff negotiations,” argues Bosworth at Latin America Risk Report.
Haiti
Haitian authorities have started deploying weaponized drones against criminal gangs in Port-au-Prince. But the method has raised concerns about civilian casualties and the potential of escalating the conflict, reports the Washington Post.
Ecuador
Ecuador’s presidential candidates have focused their energies on coastal provinces in the final stretch of campaigning before Sunday’s runoff vote, reports Reuters.
Economic hardship and spiraling violence have pushed a growing exodus from Ecuador: over 244,000 Ecuadorians have requested asylum in the US since 2021, the 8th-highest of all nationalities, reports the Aula Blog.
Panama
“A subsidiary of a Hong Kong conglomerate that is embroiled in U.S.-China tensions over its Panama Canal port assets denied allegations Wednesday that it had failed to pay about $1.2 billion to the Central American country,” reports the Associated Press. (See Tuesday’s post.)
El Salvador
President Nayib Bukele’s decision to repeal a 2017 mining ban has sparked opposition from the Catholic Church, reports El Faro, which notes growing enmity between El Salvador’s government and the Catholic clergy.
Costa Rica
Costa Rican officials awarded kickbacks to a top government ally using funds from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), alleged prosecutors who filed charges against the president and a top minister on Monday. (Reuters)
Argentina
Unions are carrying out a general strike in Argentina today, the third of President Javier Milei’s presidency, amid growing opposition to his fiscal austerity measures, reports the Buenos Aires Times.