Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent journey to Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic proves some of Donald Trump’s policy strategies in the region. He also showed that Latin American countries have room for action, not just contradictory. Rubio’s three courses left by crossing Central America and the Caribbean.
“In Central America and the Caribbean, Marco Rubio’s travels show that the biggest part of the U.S. administration is embodied by the Secretary of State, coexisting with the toughest strategies led by Trump himself.
First, it has been seen that the region will have a greater role in the Trump administration than expected. Importantly, the new Secretary of State’s first official trip was to Central America and the Caribbean. For more than a century, Latin America was not the fate of the U.S. Secretary of State’s inauguration journey. The last time was in 1912, when Philander Chase Knox headed to Panama at the end of the channel construction.
This importance lies in the fact that the region is seen as a policy of internal input by the United States (US) rather than its own specific weight. That is, Central America and the Caribbean Sea affairs and play a role in the U.S. government to cope with migration pressures and fentanyl transportation and Chinese influence. However, this situation opens a window of opportunity for countries in the region to avoid becoming stone guests.
Second, on that road, the trip revealed that it could be negotiated with Washington. Thus, it seems that the strategy that works in the face of the Trumpist approach is not a direct confrontational strategy (as Gustavo Petro of Colombia did), but a diplomacy that combines sanctions and threats with pragmatic negotiations that produces a portion of our interest to bring the results that interest us in Latin American countries. Petro’s nationalist response doesn’t seem to fit Trump’s top priorities and unilateral models. Marco Rubio said he will continue to provide assistance as long as the United States will continue to provide “our national interests.” That is, it leaves an open space for possible negotiations and Latin American countries, with benefits available. It seems that the more effective formula so far is to lower the fingerboard, sit down and negotiate and enter quid pro quo.
That’s it. El Salvador agreed to allow «convicted criminals» to enter his highest security prison. Washington is willing to help El Salvador develop nuclear energy and support and legitimize the international authority and internationally questioned Buckley administration. Costa Rica reiterated his alliance with the United States and his alliance with China, changing Washington’s commitment to support investigations into international drug trafficking networks and expanding cooperation already in this regard.
The Bernardo Arévalo government in Guatemala agreed to increase deportation flights by 40%, including immigrants who are not Guatemalans. To these concessions, the U.S. responded to «a development alliance willing to build a priority infrastructure» and explicitly supported Guatemalan democracy and the administration of central left-wing President Arevalo, away from the Trump administration. This strategy shows that its ideological principles do not belong to the United States’ geostrategic geopolitical interests. The Guatemalan government needs international support and is internally harassed by liberal forces that do not recognize its legitimacy, and has accepted our request. In return, he gained future investment in infrastructure, which could make the country a complementary alternative to the Panama Channel, which communicates the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through a dry channel.
The Dominican Republic confirmed its consistency with the Trump administration and changes Rubio confirmed that the United States will continue to support Haiti’s transnational security support (MSS). The Trump administration’s suspension of foreign aid is an exception. and agree to explore the potential of exploiting rare earths. Due to Panama, tensions are even greater due to channel issues. However, the role of Panama in curbing migration flows and projects on the departure of the José Raúl Mulino government in China, stripping and routes, proved the proximity between the two countries.
Third, the trip shows that the region is not only heterogeneous, but also very different from Washington. The new Trump administration has very close allies, such as Javier Milei of Argentina, Daniel Novoa of Ecuador and Nayib Bukele of Central America. It has more orthodox allies and traditional styles, such as Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. Then, among the anti-plant in Washington, there is a core of the country, such as Nicaragua in Central America, Venezuela in South America and Cuba in the Caribbean. In any case, the Trumpist style combines pragmatism with unilateral provocation and threat. In fact, despite the trip to Marco Rubio, Trump himself sent Richard Grenelll to Caracas, agreeing to the administration of his black beast Maduro, who was deported from the United States and released Americans imprisoned in Venezuela.
In short, Marco Rubio’s tour of Central America and the Caribbean shows that the most institutional part of the U.S. government, the Secretary of State, embodies the coexistence with the toughest strategies led by Trump himself. The region will have to face Trump’s unilateral and challenging approach, knowing that there is room for negotiation within his administration, even in the strategy of the U.S. President himself. In each case, Trump would raise his demands and threats as much as possible and then give way to negotiations, Latin American countries knew if they gave a window of opportunity to gain certain profits in some ways. Trumpist pragmatism is a skill that favors Latin American countries.
Author: Rogelio Núñez Castellano
Marco Rubio’s entrance to Central America and the Caribbean: The Strategy and Interest Game was first published in the Real Institute Elcano.