No. of Recommendations: 23
Trump won nothing but the contempt of the free world and the cheers of MAGA, who apparently are aroused on displays of cruelty.That's not all he's won.
Trump is absolutely correct that the U.S. is a lot more powerful than a nation like Colombia. And that therefore we can force Colombia to do some things they don't want to do, in the immediate near term, by pulling
harshly on some of the levers of power we have.
The reason why we historically haven't done that, of course, is because there are longer term
costs to being harsh to smaller regional allies.
In this case, China was already working hard to increase its strategic and economic ties with Colombia. China has been pursuing its "Belt and Road Initiative" all over the globe, using investments and trade and other projections of "soft" power to foster favorable relationships with national governments. It's their main strategy right now to augment their global power. Colombia has been increasing their trade with China and fostering a closer relationship, but they had not yet joined the BRI:
https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/evaluating-colombi...Trump was able to embarrass and dominate Colombia and their leadership...which got him a favorable result on the flights and a nice news cycle of coverage, but you can expect that China and Colombia will accelerate this trend. Colombia now knows that it cannot take for granted any goodwill from the United States. The best way to protect themselves is to decrease the relative importance of bilateral trade with us, and increase their economic and strategic interconnectedness with other countries.
In short, Trump has handed China a golden opportunity to accelerate Colombia's shift into their sphere of influence.
