Trump's Monroe Doctrine?
Nov. 15, 2024
U.S. president elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy pick, Marco Rubio, would be the first Latino secretary of state, and “is expected to devote considerable attention to what has long been disparagingly referred to as Washington’s backyard,” reports the Associated Press. (See yesterday’s post, and Wednesday’s.)
While many right-wing leaders in the region identify with Trump’s stance on the economy or the culture wars, and count on his isolationist international tendencies, “thhere is strong evidence that, at least in the case of Latin America, Trump’s return to the White House would lead to a far more interventionist U.S. foreign policy, as was the case during his first term,” argues Oliver Stuenkel in Foreign Policy. In particular the U.S. is expected to pressure Latin American countries to side with it versus China, which “could create considerable friction in the region, just as it did during Trump’s first term in office, when many countries warmed to China’s embrace.”
More U.S. LatAm policy
Media reports indicate Carlos Trujillo, a Cuban-American who served as ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) in the first Trump administration, could be nominated assistant secretary of state for Latin American affairs. “Trujillo not only is a hard-line supporter of lethal economic sanctions against countries like Cuba, he also reportedly played a key role in providing and reaffirming the pretext for the 2019 coup d’etat in Bolivia,” according to CEPR.
Milei’s Trumpian diplomacy
Argentina was the only country to vote against a United Nations resolution promoting the end of all forms of online violence against women and girls. It is part of a new contrarian diplomatic trend: Last week Argentina was the only nation that voted against a UN resolution focused on the rights of indigenous people. (CNN)
Juan Gabriel Tokatlian and Bernabé Malacalza argue that Argentine diplomacy is suffering a process of “deautonomization,” in the context of Milei’s call for an ideological purge of the foreign relations ministry. (Anfibia)
Argentina’s government is threatening to pull out of the Paris climate accord — and already pulled its delegation from the COP29 in Azerbaijan this week. Argentina’s government says it doesn’t deny the existence of climate change, but that discussion of its causes is a “philosophical issue,” the country’s foreign minister told the New York Times. (See Wednesday’s briefs.)
U.S. president-elect promised to withdraw from the Paris agreement (again) while campaigning, and Argentina’s threats come days after Argentine President Javier Milei spoke to Trump by phone, notes the Financial Times. Advocates are concerned it could create a domino effect that undermines the landmark accord.
Yesterday, Milei, a prolific climate science denier, became the first world leader to meet Trump after his election at his residence in Mar-a-Lago. (Guardian, BBC)
Regional Relations
International summits in Lima and Rio de Janeiro this week and next “will be a kind of elegy for a bygone era that defined American foreign policy for most of [Biden’s] life,” according to the New York Times.
The U.S. ambassador to Mexico’s “unusually blunt” comments on the country’s security policy upset the Sheinbaum administration, reports Reuters.
Brazil
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said he believes an attempted bombing outside the court — investigators believe he was the target — was the consequence of frequent far-right attacks and hate speech targeting the country’s institutions, reports the Associated Press. (See yesterday’s post.)
Cuba
Russia has pledged to provide Cuba, which is battling a crushing energy crisis, with about $60 million worth of diesel fuel, reports Reuters.
Venezuela
Earlier this month Venezuelan authorities intervened in El Dorado Penitentiary Complex to dismantle the criminal networks operating in the prison. The episode “highlights the ongoing failure of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime to eliminate the country’s prison gangs despite a year of targeted operations,” according to InSight Crime.
Haiti
Masses of Port-au-Prince residents fled a running battle yesterday between gang members and police in Solino, one of the few neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital that hadn’t already been fully taken over by gangs, reports the Associated Press. (See Wednesday’s briefs.)
As Haiti’s security crisis continues to worsen, activists have called on Caribbean governments to halt mass deportations of Haitians fleeing gang violence. In the past month, tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti, including 61,000 from the Dominican Republic, reports the Guardian.
Violence affects medical care — doctors and health centers have been targeted by gangs. The Guardian spoke with Dr Jean William “Bill” Pape, who runs free health services and says people’s needs cannot wait for an end to the gang warfare that is tearing the country apart.
Mexico
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would in the coming days present a plan to protect the country's non-genetically modified white corn under the constitution, reports Reuters.
The ruling Morena party’s constitutional reforms are recovering the Mexican magna carta’s social meaning, according to Sheinbaum. (La Jornada)
Chile
Former Boric administration official Manuel Monsalve was arrested yesterday on suspicion of rape. The case has shocked the country and dented support for President Gabriel Boric, reports the Associated Press.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua expelled Bishop Carlos Herrera, part of a long-running state crackdown targeting the Catholic Church, reports Reuters.
Colombia
Colombia has made slow progress on land rights promised in the FARC peace deal, according to Reuters.
Ecuador
“United Nations special rapporteur for torture Alice Edwards said on Thursday she is alarmed over allegations that Ecuador's former Vice President Jorge Glas was suffering torture while detained at the Andean country's La Roca prison,” reports Reuters.
Bolivia
Bolivian police issued arrest warrants for two leaders close to former president Evo Morales and are searching for two others over the 24-day road blockade damages, reports EFE.
“Bolivia's political and social landscape is undergoing a convulsive period that dramatically exposes the internal fractures of the MAS, as well as the economic and social tensions that have been accumulating in recent years,” writes Gabriel Rodríguez García in Nacla.
Peru
The APEC summit in Peru has thrust its accidental — and tremendously unpopular — president, Dina Boluarte, back into public, reports the Associated Press. “She has hardly been seen outside her brick mansion in weeks. Local journalists count more than 100 days since she last spoke to a reporter.”
Culture Corner
Artifacts and human remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist in the late 1940s are being returned by a museum in Oslo to Easter Island, reports the Associated Press.