(Adnkronos) – While in Europe the political value of a perceived closeness to Donald Trump continues to be questioned – a trend amplified by Viktor Orbán’s recent defeat in Hungary and the harsh exchange with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over the “implored photo” incident at the G7 in Evian – in South America a diametrically opposite phenomenon is being observed. Trump’s tough stance on immigration, which over the years has primarily affected flows from Latin America to the United States, would have contributed to consolidating a new generation of conservative and populist leaders in the region who see the founder of the Maga movement as their model. From one end of the continent to the other, this new ruling class looks to Washington as a central strategic ally and adopts internal policies that often align with the Trump administration’s priorities: combating irregular immigration, national security, and containing Chinese influence.
The pioneer and catalyst of this continental wave was the Argentine Javier Milei. Betting on a total alignment with Trump’s ideological agenda and a rhetoric of being an “enemy of the political caste,” in 2023 Milei dismantled decades of left-wing hegemony in his country, demonstrating for the first time that proximity to the tycoon could transform into a formidable electoral accelerator. In his wake, the latest piece of this radical transformation was added on Sunday in Colombia with the election of Abelardo de la Espriella. The Italian-Colombian billionaire lawyer, founder of Defensores de la Patria, won the presidency by defeating left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda after receiving an official endorsement from Trump, who called him an “intelligent, strong, and tough” leader, declaring himself eager to redefine bilateral relations between the two nations together.
From Milei’s rise to power to de la Espriella’s triumph, years have passed during which the regional geopolitical map has profoundly changed, and discontent over weak economic growth and the surge in organized crime has pushed voters to the right. In Chile, José Antonio Kast triumphed last December, promising zero tolerance against illegal immigration and deploying the army to the northern borders. Simultaneously, in Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz ended twenty years of socialist governments by focusing on a severe austerity program, free markets, and the restoration of solid diplomatic relations with the United States to regain the trust of international investors.
A separate, but equally emblematic, case is represented by Venezuela. After the collapse of Nicolás Maduro’s regime, forced by the United States, interim president Delcy Rodríguez, a former deputy of Maduro, has effectively become a valuable “asset” for Washington: despite coming from the top ranks of the old regime, she is proving to be a flexible and extremely receptive interlocutor to the White House’s wishes, so much so that she was publicly called a “fantastic person” by Trump after their direct talks. The American choice not to aim for a true ‘regime change’ would respond to a precise political calculation: unlike opposition leader María Corina Machado, a figure driven by uncompromising democratic idealism who would risk further polarizing the country and paralyzing institutions, Rodríguez holds de facto control over the bureaucratic and military apparatus. For Trump, this controlled continuity guarantees a rapid transition, free of power vacuums and immediately functional to American economic interests, starting with oil.
The same determination is found in Ecuador, where Daniel Noboa has militarized the country, making the war against transnational drug cartels the absolute priority of his second term, always in close coordination with US agencies. In Peru, Keiko Fujimori – who, with 99.6% of votes counted, has a very narrow lead over left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez to be re-elected president – has revived her father Alberto’s security legacy, proposing a drastic crackdown on extortion and an economic plan aimed at drastically reducing commercial dependence on China. In Honduras, conservative Nasry “Tito” Asfura rose to power thanks to a very strong endorsement from the White House, which politically shielded him even in the face of strong opposition challenges during the vote count. For Trump, Asfura is a fundamental piece in Central America: the newly elected president has indeed promised to limit Chinese infrastructure contracts and re-establish relations with Taiwan.
Overall, while Brazil and Mexico remain led by progressive governments, the rest of the region appears increasingly open to conservative leadership, opening up the possibility for the United States to consolidate a network of allied governments on key issues such as security, migration, and containment of China. The emerging picture is one of strong geopolitical asymmetry compared to Europe: on one hand, a continent where alignment with Trump continues to be perceived as a political risk; on the other hand, a Latin America where the same orientation seems instead to function as an electoral accelerator and a strategic lever in relations with Washington.
