Latin America receives Trump coldly

The reception of Donald Trump in Latin American countries has been cold. Only the Argentine Javier Milei was euphoric this Monday, present at the investiture ceremony at the Capitol. Among the rest of the region’s presidents, Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva barely complied with the required protocol greeting with a message that he uploaded to social networks. The Colombian Gustavo Petro and the Chilean Gabriel Boric remained silent, the same attitude they had in the Bolivarian axis led by Venezuela. The arrival of the Republican to the White House is especially problematic for Mexico, which expects increases in tariffs and a radicalization of immigration policy. The president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said this morning, before the ceremony in Washington, that her country “does not have to bow its head” before Trump.

Lula congratulated Trump in an official note as soon as the inauguration ended. The leftist has wished the Republican “a successful mandate that contributes to the prosperity and well-being of the people of the United States and a more just and peaceful world.” Lula also recalled that the bilateral relationship is marked “by a history of cooperation based on mutual respect and historical friendship.” The United States is the second largest trading partner after China.

Lula, who asked for the vote for Democrat Kamala Harris, will have to pull a fine line to maintain the balance between Beijing and Washington, without bothering either one.

Lula’s counterpart has been Milei, the only South American president who participated in the investiture. The Argentine took advantage of his trip to meet with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, with whom he made progress in a new agreement for fresh money, and to receive new support from the Washington elite for his adjustment plan for the economy of Argentina. Milei maintains a great relationship with Trump, from whom he expects help in negotiations with the Fund. During the ceremony he was seen laughing out loud with the Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, whom he already considers a personal friend.

Petro, meanwhile, has not yet commented on Trump’s inauguration, but this Monday he made a crucial decision that will impact his relationship with the United States.. The Government has confirmed that Laura Sarabia, the president’s right hand, will be the country’s new chancellor. Sarabia, 30 years old, will be in charge of maneuvering the relationship between these two leaders from opposite sides.

Sources from the Casa de Nariño told local media that one of the first objectives of the new head of diplomacy will be to arrange a meeting between Petro and Trump. Last week, Sarabia was in Washington in a first attempt to strengthen contacts between countries. Petro criticized last week that Trump and his party did not invite him to the inauguration and did invite “the extreme right stained with the massacres.”

Mexico also has reasons to worry. Trump confirmed this Monday that he will issue a series of decrees that ratify his Administration’s heavy-handed turn in the face of the immigration crisis and the war on drug trafficking. Even changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” is on the list. The Sheinbaum Government anticipated the arrival of the executive orders and condemned the adoption of “unilateral measures” in the face of the challenges of the bilateral relationship, while it is already preparing to mitigate the impact of the latest announcements coming from Washington. The official response is scheduled for this Tuesday, a spokesperson for his team told Morning Express, except for a last-minute change.

The Chilean Gabriel Boric is, like Sheinbaum, at the ideological antipodes of Trump. This Monday, the Government’s deputy spokesperson, Aisén Etcheverry, said after Trump’s inauguration that the position of the State of Chile towards the United States “does not change due to the changes in president,” reports Ana María Sanhueza. Etcheverry recalled that the relationship with Washington “is political, commercial, cultural, diplomatic and scientific and has remained constant over time, independent, I insist, of the different administrations in one country or the other.”

Perplexity in Panama

Trump did not forget Panama, which is perplexed at his promise to recover for the United States the interoceanic canal that crosses the isthmus. “China is operating the Panama Canal, but we did not give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we are going to get it back,” he insisted once again this Monday, in his investiture speech. Trump believes that “American ships are being grossly overcharged and not treated fairly.”

“I must comprehensively reject the words outlined by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal,” the Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, immediately reacted, reiterating the message he had already launched in December, reports Santiago Torrado. “The Canal is and will continue to be Panama’s and its administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality. There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration,” he added.

Since Trump began his threats to seize control of the passage in December, the clamor claiming that “the Canal belongs to Panama” has spread in the Central American country. The New Year commemorated exactly 25 years since control of the road was transferred to Panamanian hands.