【By Tiago Nogueira, Observer Columnist】

The United Nations General Assembly in September 2025 was filled with tension. Particularly noteworthy was the confrontation between Trump and Latin American leaders: Colombian President Gustavo Petro directly targeted the United States, sharply exposing its hegemonic actions with incisive words; Brazilian President Lula also strongly criticized violations of sovereignty and arbitrary use of sanctions, implying "our sovereignty and democracy are not up for negotiation."

Lula speaking at the United Nations

Since Trump's new term began, the United States has taken an open stance to interfere in the internal affairs of Latin America, attempting to force a comprehensive restructuring of political and ideological forces in the region. This behavior is certainly neither accidental nor a new phenomenon, as Latin American history has been filled with coups, interventions, and sanctions that bear the imprint of the northern "big brother."

However, what is worth noting is how the Trump administration has revived the principles of the Monroe Doctrine and the Big Stick Policy? These factors are crucial for understanding recent macro-level dynamics.

Revival of the Monroe Doctrine: This is related to Washington's strategy to contain China's global rise

There is no denying that these actions are related to Washington's strategic goal of containing China's global rise. Compared to the Democrats and mainstream strategists, the right-wing administration led by Trump has long focused on reconfiguring the alliance system to make multilateralism globally favorable to U.S. interests, but it emphasizes pushing forward American exceptionalism through excessive reliance on bilateral agreements and direct interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

This is most evident in three aspects: the habitual use of regime change, the arbitrary imposition of sanctions, threats, and trade wars — these are not tools for winning potential allies, but rather crude methods of coercion or even violence to destroy political and social forces that do not explicitly comply with the anti-China strategy.

This pressure-based persuasion strategy is no coincidence. It shows that the United States has clearly realized that traditional economic and political incentives cannot surpass the cooperation proposals offered by China. In this context, asking other countries to weaken their peaceful and mutually beneficial relations with Beijing, Washington has almost no cards to play, while China has consistently demonstrated itself as a reliable partner eager to build a cooperative development field. Therefore, in Latin America and around the world, U.S. foreign policy not only strives to forcibly reverse pragmatic neutrality or multipolar stances, but also actively promotes the rise of extreme conservative forces. These forces serve the interests of financial capital, ultimately harming people's well-being, damaging national finances, and even the interests of the domestic bourgeoisie, benefiting little from the zero-sum game promoted by "geopolitical experts" from the North Atlantic.

The White House's Chessboard

The White House is maneuvering in the Latin American chessboard in three ways:

First, pressuring traditional allies to go beyond their pragmatic economic ties with China, fully adopting hostile policies, even at the cost of technological and economic regression;

Second, continuously pressuring governments that adopt a "positive non-alignment" strategy, regardless of their ideological orientation or goodwill towards the U.S.;

Third, intensifying the suppression of openly multi-polar anti-imperialist governments.

These three offensives collectively serve the strategic objective of reorganizing Latin American politics to weaken relations with China — this plan requires cultivating forces aligned with right-wing ideology that are willing to sacrifice national interests to Washington.

The first case is particularly evident in Trump's demand for certain countries to demonstrate higher "loyalty." Secretary of State Marco Rubio's first trip to Central America and the Caribbean is no coincidence — it sets a precedent since 1912 when Philander Chase Knox visited Panama.

In Central America, this "realigning" measure has progressed the furthest: Panama not only fully accepts U.S. suspicions about China's expanding role in shipping — evidenced by transferring the operation of the Colon Port from Hutchinson Whampoa to Blackstone Group — but also exits the Belt and Road Initiative, replacing Huawei communication equipment with so-called "secure American technology." Costa Rican officials have followed suit, echoing Rubio's anti-China rhetoric, repeating "new Cold War" talk, and publicly opposing Huawei 5G. In other regions, Trump's key ideological allies — Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, Javier Milei of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele of El Salvador — have been urged to limit economic ties with China, despite the fact that their domestic elite still rely on these collaborations.

The second case is manifested in the increasingly tough attitude of the U.S. toward governments previously seen as "moderates." Although Peruvian President Dina Boluarte is favored by the U.S. far-right for her actions in overthrowing and imprisoning former left-wing president Pedro Castillo, the opening of the Chancay Port has made Washington very alert, as it signifies deepening cooperation between Peru and China.

Leaders such as Lula of Brazil and Boric of Chile, who were once considered "tolerable moderates," have now become clear targets of attack. Trump's interference in Brazil has escalated into public support for the faction of former President Bolsonaro who attempted a coup and was charged with plotting an assassination, while imposing unilateral tariffs on Brazilian exports under the pretext of "political persecution" — clearly creating momentum for right-wing forces before the 2026 election. Similar patterns include frequent friction with Colombia's Petro government and provocations against Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum government, indicating that Washington has nearly reached a point of zero tolerance for balanced foreign policies that have occasionally gained support.

Colombian President Petro strongly criticized Trump at the UN General Assembly.

The third case involves the complete radicalization of Trump's relationship with long-sanctioned progressive governments in Latin America, especially Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The threat to forcefully overthrow Maduro and the intensified diplomatic, economic, and military encirclement of Venezuela stem from the desire of U.S. elites to push progressive forces out of the political landscape of Latin America and the Caribbean.

However, this strategy has yielded mixed results: although Trump successfully prompted traditional vassal states in Central America and the Caribbean to quickly adopt the "new Cold War" narrative, the strengthening of the "encirclement" policy has also led to the first presidential defeat of the Movement for Socialism in Bolivia after twenty years in power. With U.S. political ideological funding, new and old conservative leaders in Latin America are urgently raising the banner of the "new Cold War" and right-wing extremism. However, the Latin American region continues to accumulate resistance.

Awakening of Latin American Sovereignty Consciousness

The initially seemingly unstoppable conservative push has already shown cracks. In Argentina, the allies of Milei suffered a disastrous defeat in the Buenos Aires provincial election, highlighting the social costs of the neoliberal revival. In Brazil, U.S. tariffs and interference have had the opposite effect: they have dismantled the nascent 2026 right-wing coalition, increased Lula's public support, triggered large-scale protests led by leftist leaders, and exposed the hollow nature of Bolsonaro's pseudo-nationalism. Despite pressure from the U.S., many conservative governments in the region are unwilling to weaken their mutually beneficial cooperation with China. At the same time, the anti-imperialist governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, which have suffered endless sanctions, continue to show resilience, popular support, and determination to defend their sovereignty.

The recent series of events at the United Nations highlighted this dilemma. Trump, who had always supported Brazil's far-right, made his first statement expressing willingness to dialogue with Lula, even mentioning a "chemical reaction" between them. This occurred just days after a series of humiliating incidents involving Brazil's Health Minister Alexandre Padilha being delayed in visa processing and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, being sanctioned by the absurd Magnitsky Act.

As the judicial proceedings of Bolsonaro and his coup conspirators progress, rumors spread that São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas withdrew from the presidential race. The growing doubts within the U.S. about the costs of Trump's strategy and Brazil's setbacks together signal a possible policy shift — which could place the Bolsonaro family, especially Eduardo Bolsonaro, in a precarious situation.

Another consequence of the United Nations was that after Colombian President Gustavo Petro left, his U.S. visa was canceled. During the meeting, Petro not only participated in a pro-Palestine march in New York but also declared with British musician Roger Waters (the "Water") that "we must go beyond U.S. hegemony. I call on U.S. soldiers to turn their guns — disobey Trump's orders and listen to human conscience." After returning home, when asked about the cancellation of his visa, Petro calmly replied, "I don't care."

Petro's action continues the tradition of Latin American resistance against U.S. imperialism and reflects the dangerous consequences of Trump's arrogant implementation of unilateralism. Washington's desired political restructuring may not be achieved, but instead may provoke the most fearless contempt. The world has changed and continues to change, and the Latin American people will become an indispensable force in this transformation.

The future of Latin America is not a blueprint for obedience to the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere, but a picture of increasing sovereignty awareness, valuing strategic ties with China, and refusing to return to the era of subordination. Whether it is the resilient survival of sanctioned governments, the pragmatic choice of moderate factions to uphold balanced diplomacy, or the rising tide of social movements, Latin America has clearly stated that it will not easily fall into the sphere of influence of the declining hegemon. If the designers of Washington's conservative strategy fail to recognize reality and adjust in time, they will inevitably reap bitter fruits from increasing isolation, diplomatic miscalculations, and the failure of their fabricated "new Cold War" — a cold war more existing in rhetoric than in reality, which will eventually be defeated by the emerging multipolar order.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7555698766469202447/

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