the Cuban-American senator from the nominated by the president-elect As the country’s next Secretary of State, he wants to create a coalition of conservative presidents of to counter the leftist wave in the region.

Will it work? Before trying to answer that question, let’s look at what he himself has said. Blond about his plan, in which the president would play an important role

As he wrote Blond In an article published by the conservative magazine “The National Interest” on April 23, the Latin American bloc opposed to dictatorships and left-wing populism would be composed of Argentina, , , he , and .

Marco Rubio's plan for Latin America, by Andrés Oppenheimer (illustration: Giovanni Tazza)

Marco Rubio’s plan for Latin America, by Andrés Oppenheimer (illustration: Giovanni Tazza)

Blondwho was born in but he speaks fluent Spanish and has long defended the cause of democracy in and wrote in that article that , and have made significant progress in Latin Americaand that “building a coalition against that influence” is “obviously desirable.”

Blond He went on to say that “we must be inspired by the new generation of potentially pro-American leaders in the Western Hemisphere.” He cited, among others, the cases of Milei and the president of Paraguay, who, he said, feel “a distaste for socialism.” Pro-American presidents in the region are in charge of more than 120 million people and economies totaling more than a trillion dollars.

Judging by the triumphal entry of Milei at the gala dinner trump in Palm Beach on November 14, and the fact that he was the first foreign leader to meet with trump since the November 5 elections, everything indicates that Argentina He will be one of the leaders of the group. However, it will not be easy for the conservative alliance proposed by Blond achieve its purpose of curbing the influence of China and Russiaamong other things because China has greatly increased its economic weight in the region, while Washington has forgotten its neighbors to the south. Likewise, the planned mass deportations of millions of immigrants trump and his plan to increase import tariffs on foreign goods will not sit well with several countries in the potential right-wing coalition.

My prediction about the chances of success of the conservative coalition proposed by Blond It will depend on whether trump respect the rule of law once he takes office on January 20, or behave like an autocrat.

If the latter occurs and trump violates democratic norms to persecute his critics and intimidate the press, and if he continues to praise dictators like Vladimir Putinthe coalition of freedom-loving countries will have no moral authority to preach democracy in Latin America.

The fact that Blond probably pay more attention to Latin America that all of his predecessors in recent memory is good news. But I’m worried that, if trump despises the rule of law, as he did when he refused to accept his 2020 electoral defeat, it will be difficult to take seriously the creation of this alliance as a defense force for the in the region.

The anti-left coalition proposed by Blond It will be a great idea if its member countries respect the rule of law. Otherwise, it will be morally weak and ineffective.

–Glossed and edited–

© El Nuevo Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

*El Comercio opens its pages to the exchange of ideas and reflections. In this plural framework, the Diario does not necessarily agree with the opinions of the columnists who sign them, although it always respects them.



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