Trump got what he wanted with Colombia. But his tactics could come back to bite him.
Stoking confrontations to show strength, the president risks alienating allies and aiding China.
“… But it could backfire in the long run, further destabilizing an already tenuous global order and even pushing would-be partner countries closer to Beijing.
“People in Latin America are extremely worried,” said Jorge Heine, the former Chilean ambassador to China.
For South America “the message is that it’s not a good idea to be very closely interlinked with the United States, because you might pay a heavy price,” continued Heine, who is now a professor at Boston University. “And as a result of that, China’s prospects for stronger ties have been enhanced.”
As tensions between Washington and Bogota simmered Sunday afternoon, China’s ambassador to Colombia posted an overture to China on X, reminding followers that Colombia’s foreign minister visited Beijing last year and described the bilateral relationship as the “best moment” in 45 years.
Colombia is hardly the only country reeling from Trump’s confrontational style. Of greater concern to allies, he’s continued to express his determination to wrest control of Greenland from the Danes, to “take back” the Panama Canal from Panama, to impose major tariffs on Mexico, Canada and Europe and to continue suggesting Canada’s simplest way to avoid tariffs is to become America’s 51st state.
Given the economic and military superiority of the United States, Trump almost always has the upper hand as he applies pressure on leaders of Canada, Denmark and now Colombia, all steadfast allies with a history of working closely with Washington.
But after four years in which former President Joe Biden prioritized multilateral coordination with key allies, Trump’s aggressive moves, all carried out with characteristic bluster on social media, have come as a shock even to leaders who felt more ready for a second term than they did his first. …”
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