"In recent months, the assertive policy of the Trump administration toward Latin America, from
Panama to
Mexico to
Venezuela to
Colombia, has received significant media attention. Ironically, for reasons largely unrelated to that engagement, a confluence of political currents in the region is giving rise to a group of governments, almost unprecedented in number, aligned with and interested in strengthening relations with the United States. That trend presents the new U.S. administration with enormous strategic opportunities as it gives
increased attention to the region in its foreign and domestic policies, as key to U.S. security and prosperity. That fleeting opportunity could evaporate, however, if its causes and complexity are not properly understood, and the tentative goodwill in the region is not aggressively leveraged through U.S. outreach based on respect, democratic values, rule of law, and mutual support."