Reactions to Donald Trump’s victory in the United States have been mixed in Latin America. The messages have ranged from latent concern in neighboring Mexico to the euphoria unleashed by the far-right government of Javier Milei in Argentina and the good reception in the Brazilian opposition led by Jair Bolsonaro. He has also highlighted the satisfaction among anti-Chavistas in Venezuela, who once again glimpse some hope in a possible change with the support of the great world power. Trump’s victory has already had an impact in the region south of the Rio Grande, although the consequences are still unpredictable and also different for different countries.
In Mexico, the neighbor to the south, the authorities have tried to show a cautious stance, although there is concern due to the fear that the next president will fulfill his promises of drastic changes in migration, trade and the fight against drug trafficking. Mexico is, without a doubt, the country in the region that faces the worst possible scenario. Trump was the candidate who promoted the wall on the southern border and racist and anti-Mexican rhetoric. He even threatened the president, Claudia Sheinbaum, with applying 35% tariffs on Mexican products if she does not stop migrants coming to the United States from Central America at the border. “Mexico always comes out ahead,” Sheinbaum said this Wednesday, “there is no reason for concern.” There is no country more harmed by the magnate’s return than Mexico, according to the magazine’s diagnosis The Economistwhich sees trade as the most vulnerable area, being the United States’ main trading partner.
Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right who presided over Brazil between 2019 and 2022, was one of the first to express his joy at “the epic victory” of Donald Trump in the United States, whom he congratulated in a tweet after thanking God for the outcome. of the elections. Lula’s government has limited itself, however, to complying with diplomatic formalities, after Lula da Silva openly supported the candidacy of Kamala Harris.
Proof of the ideological and personal closeness of Jair Bolsonaro, his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, deputy and liaison of the clan with the most reactionary groups abroad, has attended the count at Trump’s house, in Florida. “Today we are witnesses of the resurgence of a true warrior,” wrote Bolsonaro Sr. in a second tweet in English in which he refers to the president-elect as “my friend” and praises him for “the triumph of the popular will against the designs.” of an elite that disdains our values, beliefs and traditions.” Trump’s return to the White House despite the assault on the Capitol, his judicial problems, gives encouragement to a Bolsonaro who, on the one hand, is disqualified until 2030 for abuse of power and questioning the security of the vote but, on the other, He remains committed to being the right-wing candidate for the next presidential elections, in 2026.
– Today, we witness the resurgence of a true warrior. A man who, even after facing a brutal electoral process in 2020 and an unjustifiable judicial persecution, has risen again, as few in history have managed to do.
– Against all opposition from globalists and the deep state,…
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) November 6, 2024
The reaction of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been very different. Her explicit support for Harris earned her some criticism because it would reduce her room for maneuver if she were defeated. “Congratulations to President Donald Trump,” begins the Brazilian president’s tweet, which states that “democracy is the voice of the people and must always be respected.”
The reaction of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, was much more effusive. He celebrated the Republican’s “formidable electoral victory” with a message on his social networks and guaranteed him that he will be able to “count on Argentina” to “carry out his task.” Former President Mauricio Macri also joined in congratulating Trump, whom he called “dear friend,” remembering the years when their families shared real estate businesses in the United States. Trump’s support was key in the $44 billion loan that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted to the Macri Government in 2018. Milei hopes that his explicit alignment with Washington and his support for Trump will be reciprocated with a new loan of the Fund, something that is not so clear that it will happen. Washington’s support for the “cultural war” that the Argentine wages against the international left and its progressive agenda is assured.
Satisfaction in the Venezuelan opposition
Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, the person who almost certainly defeated Nicolás Maduro — the regime refused to show the records — at the polls last July 28 and is now exiled in Spain, said the American people has expressed “its sovereign will,” reaffirming “the strength of alternation.” When talking about alternation, he clearly also refers to himself. “From the same responsibility as president-elect, I wish to strengthen our relations, always for the benefit of our people,” he added.
María Corina Machado, the opposition leader who gave up her candidacy to González when she was disqualified, spoke along the same lines: “We know that we have always counted on you,” she told Trump. “The democratic government that we Venezuelans elected (…) will be a reliable ally to work with your administration for the well-being of our people.”
Chavismo reacted after noon, in a very calculated message. He congratulated, first of all, not the candidate, but the “people of the United States” on the elections and then pointed out Trump as president-elect. “Venezuela will always be willing to establish relations with the US governments, framed in a spirit of dialogue, respect and common sense,” says a statement issued by the Presidency. Then Chavista rhetoric is used when asking for recognition “of the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples are fundamental for the construction of a new world, where balance prevails between free nations.” The United States and Venezuela have been negotiating a solution to the Venezuelan conflict for years, which, now, is more knotted than ever.
In Colombia, expectations are very high for what may happen between President Gustavo Petro and Trump, two people at personal and ideological opposites. Petro congratulated Trump and went directly to the burning issue between the two countries: “The only way to seal the borders is with the prosperity of the people of the south and the end of the blockades,” he said in reference to the sanctions imposed on Cuba and Venezuela itself. And then he went to the topic that obsesses him, the bombing of Gaza by Israel, with a tone that the advisors of who is going to be the new tenant of the White House will not like very much: “The progressive possibility in the United States does not “I could applaud the genocide in Gaza.” Former President Álvaro Uribe, meanwhile, celebrated Trump’s victory, which he defined as “an example of tenacity and the ability to reach all economic and social sectors of the community.”
In Peru, Dina Boluarte congratulated Trump through the X account of the Presidency of Peru – she has not written for a year, a silence that coincides with her acceptance of 8%, the lowest percentage of a president in the history of the country. “The president of Peru, Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, congratulates candidate Donald Trump for achieving victory in the democratic day held yesterday in the United States of America.” President Daniel Noboa, of Ecuador, sent a very brief message in English: “Congratulations, @realdonaldtrump, the future looks bright for the continent.”
In Chile, the first to celebrate was the leader of the hard-right Republican Party, José Antonio Kast. “My congratulations to Donald Trump. A new triumph of freedom and common sense,” he wrote on his social networks. The former presidential candidate, and who aspires to be the card of his party for the 2025 elections, spoke about the electoral result in the United States before the Government of Gabriel Boric.
Three hours after Trump’s victory was announced, the chancellor, Alberto Van Klaveren, maintained that the result of the election was “very relevant at all levels” and “extremely clear.” “We maintain a State relationship with the United States, relations are between States and we aspire to have the best relationship with the new Government of President Trump,” he assured. President Boric, for his part, waited until the afternoon to greet the new president: “Chile reaffirms its commitment to strengthening the relationship with the United States in favor of inclusive development, respect for human rights and care for democracy in our region,” he wrote in X.
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