Americas First: Trump and Latin America

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s most recent expedition to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru — his fifth trip crisscrossing the region as secretary — drew familiar criticism. Washington has made the Western Hemisphere a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy, raising questions over legal overreach, anti-China arm-twisting, and the revival of backyard geopolitics.

Some of those concerns about tactics have merit. But Rubio is right to prioritize this neighborhood.

At its heart, foreign policy should keep Americans safe, prosperous and free. No other region touches American lives so directly and at such scale. For decades, Washington “rediscovered” Latin America only when migration surged, drugs spilled north, or a rival power moved in. That entire approach is gets it backwards.

Start with prosperity. In 2024, U.S. trade in goods and services with Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean reached $2.32 trillion — nearly one-third of all U.S. trade. That is more than U.S. trade with the European Union and United Kingdom combined. Much of this commerce moves directly by truck, rail and pipeline across a continent we share.

The region also shapes U.S. security, first, through pressure on U.S. borders. U.S. authorities recorded about 2.2 million southwest-border encounters in fiscal 2024. A year later, the number had fallen to roughly 444,000. Despite the swing, both figures make the point: what happens in Latin America does not stay there. Not to mention, more than one half of all immigrants living in the United States were born in Latin America,........

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