The response of donald trump when asked about his government’s future relations with Latin America and Brazil – “we don’t need them” – was a gratuitous display of political arrogance that will do little to help advance US interests in the region.
Instead of saying that there is a great opportunity for democratic countries of Latin America become partners of USA to attract multinational factories in China to the American continent – which would help eliminate poverty, reduce migration and reduce economic dependence on USA of China–, trump unnecessarily disdained the region.
In case you didn’t hear him, when asked at a press conference during his executive order signing ceremony on Monday how he sees future relations with Latin America and Brazil, trump He said: “We don’t need them. “They need us.” His statement fell like a bucket of cold water on many of my friends.trumpists‘, because they had great hopes that Latin America be a priority for the new government trump.
And it may still be, because the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, a former Cuban-American senator from Florida, will be the first Spanish-speaking head of the State Department in recent memory. The number two of Blond will be the former ambassador in Mexico, Christopher Landau, who also speaks Spanish, and whose father was an ambassador for USA in Paraguay, Chile and Venezuela.
Although there are doubts about how much power they will have Blond and Landau in the new administration (trump has appointed several close friends as special envoys and ambassadors), I do not remember having seen so many high-ranking Spanish-speaking officials in such high positions in a government United States in a long time.
That’s good news, but the problem is that trump has a negative agenda for Latin America. He sees the region as a problem, rather than an opportunity.
The inaugural speech of trump focused on pure negative things about the region, such as an alleged “invasion” of immigrants (although the flow of immigrants was reduced by almost 70% last year), drug cartels latin americans and the supposed danger that Panama continue managing the Panama Canal. Instead, trump did not mention any possible positive agenda for Latin America. It could have offered Washington’s regional allies, such as Argentina either Ecuadora plan to explore possibilities of ‘nearshoring’ or the relocation of many of the factories that American multinationals currently have in China to the American continent.
That would help create jobs in Latin America and would reduce dependence on China of large companies USA. Latin America It is much closer geographically to the US market and in the same time zone.
It is true that some officials in the new Trump administration, such as the newly appointed special envoy for Latin AmericaMauricio Claver-Carone, have been great promoters of ‘nearshoring’ in Latin America. I wouldn’t be surprised if BlondClaver-Carone and others in the new administration try to convince trump to propose a positive agenda for Latin America, on par with his current threats on immigration, drugs and tariffs.
But I wonder if BlondClaver-Carone and other “Latin Americanists” will manage to prevail over the allies of trump of the nationalist and xenophobic extreme right. trump relies heavily on the isolationist, and sometimes racist, right to fill the stadiums where it speaks, keep the Republican Party, and to be able to boast that he has great popularity, although he won the elections with only 49.8% of the popular vote, with a historically small 1.5% advantage over his rival.
trump You would have done yourself a big favor if, in addition to talking about immigration, tariffs, drugs and Panama Canal, would have suggested a positive agenda for Latin America. He may still do so, but he missed a golden opportunity by not doing so when asked about the region on the first day of his second term.
–Glossed and edited–
© El Nuevo Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
