Reaching for Autonomy: U.S.-Latin American Relations in the Trump Era

Abstract:During his term in office, Donald Trump was consistently hostile toward Latin America and its people. Regardless of what they felt about him, Latin American leaders had no choice but to adapt to an era of confrontation and unpredictability. This paper uses the concept of autonomy to make a twofold argument. First, Trump accelerated an already existing trend whereby Latin American leaders increasingly looked to expand opportunities of all kinds with governments outside the hemisphere. Second, ideological and nationalist obstacles within Latin America slowed or even blocked autonomous action. Trump held open the autonomy door, so to speak, but many were hesitant to walk through it.