The Trump Administration in Latin America: Continuity and Change

Carlos Oliva Campos,Gary Prevost

doi:10.13169/intejcubastud.11.1.0013

Abstract

Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election without a clearly articulated policy for either Cuba or the Latin American/Caribbean region as a whole. Two years into that presidency, this article seeks to describe that policy and place it within Trump's wider foreign policy. The article deconstructs the worldview of ‘America First’ as lying within the perspective of the neo-conservative wing of the Republican Party, epitomised by John Bolton, the current National Security Advisor. The implications of that worldview for Cuba and Latin America make for a reversal of Obama's opening to Cuba, a hardline on immigration from Mexico and Central America, and greater pressure for regime change in both Venezuela and Nicaragua. Also analysed is the resonance of Trump's policies with the recent turn to the political right in Latin America, notably in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Colombia.

Highlights

Trump’s Foreign PolicyDonald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election without a clearly articulated policy for either Cuba or the Latin American/Caribbean region as a whole
The Trump administration entered office in January 2017 in the midst of what was a two-year opening towards Cuba negotiated by the Obama administration that had seen the upgrading of diplomatic relations, the signing of numerous bilateral agreements in areas ranging from the environment to law enforcement, and a relaxation of rules on US citizen travel to the island that resulted in more than one million US citizens, mostly non-Cuban-Americans, visiting in 2016
The administration used the new conservative governments in Brazil and Argentina to break up previous Latin American unity that generally defended Venezuela from rhetorical attacks from Washington

Summary

Introduction

Trump’s Foreign PolicyDonald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election without a clearly articulated policy for either Cuba or the Latin American/Caribbean region as a whole. On Cuba, candidate Trump initially supported Obama’s negotiations with the island, but later, during campaign events in Florida he appeared to embrace the hardline positions of the conservative Cuban Americans and their political allies.

Results

Conclusion