How Joe Biden might change policy towards Latin America

“FOR THE first time in history, you can truly envision a western hemisphere that is secure, democratic and middle-class, from northern Canada to southern Chile, and everywhere in between.” So said Joe Biden in a speech at Harvard University in 2014. Much has changed since then, not least the destruction of lives and livelihoods wrought by the pandemic. Even so, were Mr Biden to be elected president of the United States in November, for many Latin Americans he would offer a vision that is reassuring and familiar compared with the unpredictable sound and fury of Donald Trump.

Mr Trump won in 2016 in part because he promised to build a wall to keep out Latin American immigrants, declaring that Mexico was “not our friend”. Nevertheless, he has developed relatively good relations with the most important governments in the region. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president, used Mr Trump’s success as a template for his own campaign in 2018. He has closely aligned Brazil’s foreign policy, normally independent, with the Trump administration’s views. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on his only foreign trip in 21 months as Mexico’s leader, last month went to Washington and praised Mr Trump’s “kindness and respect”. To keep the border open for trade, Mexico’s government has collaborated in shutting it to asylum-seekers.