For the last four years, the U.S. has allowed Central and South American countries to send drug money and illegal migrants to the U.S while aligning with China’s Belt and Road initiative. President Trump has said enough.
It makes no sense to allow these countries to flood our country with drugs from cartels and criminal migrants while accepting money from China to develop infrastructure projects.
For decades, the United States safeguarded its interests in the Western Hemisphere by preventing communism in Latin America. However a new axis of leftist narco-states, backed by China and hostile to American influence, is rising in the region. Their playbook is simple: seize power through populist rhetoric, dismantle democratic institutions, align with China and use drug cartels to finance ongoing operations.
This must stop.
Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro transformed his country from among the world’s richest into a failed socialist state dependent on criminal enterprises. Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega solidified his rule by eliminating political opposition and embracing Beijing’s influence. Honduras’ Xiomara Castro weakened law enforcement, threatened America’s military presence, and rolled back the anti-cartel policies of her predecessor. Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, a former leftist guerrilla fighter himself, is leading his country toward radical Marxism while disparaging the United States and undermining bilateral cooperation.
The result? More drugs, more violence, more illegal aliens and a diminished American footprint.
China is not sitting idly by. While these leftist regimes dismantle their institutions, Beijing stands ready to buy influence through debt traps, infrastructure projects and military agreements. China’s goal is clear: displace American power and establish a permanent foothold at our doorstep.
The Panama Canal has long been a target of Chinese influence. Strong American leadership from Secretary of State Marco Rubio forced Panama to reevaluate its cooperation with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
China, however, continues to expand its reach in Latin America through strategic investments in ports, energy infrastructure and telecommunications. Countries like Honduras, Venezuela, and Nicaragua are becoming satellite states for Beijing’s economic and political ambitions, granting China preferential access to resources and strategic assets at the United States’ expense.
This growing influence must be countered before they wholly lose to communist control.
Socialist narcostates thrive by exporting instability to the U.S. Xiomara Castro is now dismantling the extradition treaty with the U.S. — the same one she exploited to remove former President Hernández — because her family’s deep ties to the drug trade make protecting traffickers her priority over working with the U.S.
With political protection, cartels have transformed Central America into a war zone, flooding American communities with cocaine and fentanyl while driving mass migration. Individuals fleeing instability at home move northward, where cartels eventually abet their invasion of the United States.
When we stop socialist regimes from fueling crime and economic collapse and from protecting drug traffickers, we remove the catalyst that drives people to leave their homes.
Despite the growing socialist tide, some leaders in Latin America stand against corruption and economic decay. Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, has crushed gang violence and rejected socialist policies. Javier Milei in Argentina is undoing decades of leftist mismanagement. And, in Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández fought the cartels and upheld American security interests before being betrayed by Biden’s DOJ.
These leaders show that an alternative exists, and we must ardently back them without compromise.
President Trump must act decisively to restore American hegemony. This means blocking China’s grip on key infrastructure, supporting allies like Bukele and Milei as they reform their nations and ensuring economic zones like Prospera flourish. Securing the border is essential to halting cartel-driven migration while reviving anti-cartel operations will dismantle traffickers protected by socialist regimes.
With strong leadership, the U.S. can reassert dominance, stabilize the region, and prevent the rise of China-backed narco-states.
If the United States fails to press for its interests in Latin America, In that case, the vacuum will be filled by China, and the consequences will be catastrophic—more crime, more migration, and the loss of U.S. influence in its backyard. The battle for our hemisphere is the battle for our future
America First means Central America Strong. The time to act is now.
Gavin M. Wax is a New York-based conservative political activist, commentator, columnist, operative, and strategist. He is the Executive Director of the National Constitutional Law Union. He also serves as the 76th President of the New York Young Republican Club and as an Ambassador for Turning Point USA & Live Action. He is the co-author of ‘The Emerging Populist Majority, ‘ which is available now. You can follow him on Twitter at @GavinWax.
Eduardo Rivero is an international relations expert with degrees from LSE and Oxford University. He has worked with clients across North and Latin America and Europe, specializing in geopolitics, U.S.-Latin America relations, and foreign policy strategy.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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