When Donald Trump takes office in January, he will inherit a relationship with Latin America vastly different from the one Barack Obama faced when he entered the White House eight years ago. The Obama administration has made tremendous progress when it comes to our neighbors in the Americas, and the president-elect would be wise to sustain that progress by building bridges rather than walls.
While the country’s democratic institutions and rule of law remain robust and resilient, it would be misleading to believe that Uruguay is immune to the political instability and polarization rampant throughout the region.
Despite the hurdles, the MAS crisis and Morales’s waning popularity hint at a possible political shift, one that could strengthen Bolivia’s battered democracy, pave the way for judicial reform, and address urgent environmental issues.
The paradoxical thing about Trump’s victory is that though Republicans likely won because of the importance of the economy and voters’ perception of the Democrats’ mishandling of it, Trump’s agenda based on lower taxes, higher tariffs and migrant deportations threatens to derail the recovery.
