On Nov. 3, the Dominican Republic postponed the tenth Summit of the Americas, which it had been scheduled to host in December. The announcement forged a shadow over the way forward for Western Hemisphere relations. An occasion meant to supply a possibility for Latin American and Caribbean leaders to collectively interact with the USA as a substitute grew to become emblematic of simply how fraught U.S. relations with the area are.
The Dominican authorities cited “profound divergences” hindering regional dialogue, possible a reference to repeated U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats within the Caribbean and speak of a possible U.S. intervention in Venezuela. But postponement of the decades-old summit—vaguely pushed to 2026, with no new date set—reveals a deeper structural dysfunction within the U.S.-Latin America relationship, stemming from the Trump administration’s powerful and largely unilateral strategy to regional affairs.
Many international locations within the area seem extra prepared to placate Washington than threat confrontation. Even the Dominican Republic’s postponement announcement rigorously famous its dedication to working with the USA to make sure an efficient summit. As tensions escalate, the chance of the occasion being outright canceled grows.
If the USA desires to satisfy its lofty objectives within the area, it’s in its curiosity to cooperate in future boards such because the Summit of the Americas. Though confrontation could happen, the summits can function an vital discussion board to air grievances, determine shared challenges, and, when needed, for different international locations to voice their opposition to U.S. motion (or inaction) within the Americas.
Regional leaders ought to view the following summit not simply as a one-off occasion, however as half of a bigger course of—one which pushes the USA to see itself as a real member of the hemisphere and encourages collective problem-solving, even when Washington refuses to cooperate.
On the finish of the Chilly Warfare, the USA sought to show a brand new web page in its relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean, inviting all democratically elected heads of state and authorities—besides Cuba’s Fidel Castro—to attend the primary Summit of the Americas in Miami in 1994. The assembly elevated hemispheric dialogue past the Washington-headquartered Group of American States (OAS), producing a declaration of rules and an bold plan of motion, together with a dedication to making a Free Commerce Space of the Americas by 2005. The occasion concluded with “nice reveals of optimism,” Brazil’s Folha de S. Paulo reported on the time; then-U.S. President Invoice Clinton known as it the “spirit of Miami.”
However sustaining that spirit has proved difficult. On one hand, the summit course of has yielded significant victories such because the Inter-American Democratic Constitution, the Lima Dedication on Corruption, and the latest Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Safety. These mechanisms mirrored rising recognition that points reminiscent of corruption and migration required a shared regional response.
Leaders have additionally used the summits to push for modifications in U.S. coverage. On the 2012 summit in Cartagena, Colombia, for instance, they pressured the Obama administration to ask Cuba to the 2015 Panama Metropolis assembly, signaling a shift in U.S. coverage from long-standing isolation of the island to engagement.
But the summits have confronted their share of criticism and setbacks. The much-heralded Free Commerce Space of the Americas grew to become a degree of rivalry and was deserted on the 2005 assembly in Mar del Plata, Argentina, largely attributable to left-wing Latin American governments’ wariness about free commerce and rising discontent over U.S. unilateralism.
These governments’ requires inclusion have additionally gone unanswered by summit hosts: Solely one of many 9 earlier summits—the 2015 assembly—invited representatives from all 35 international locations within the Americas. Cuba was excluded via 2012, Venezuela was disinvited in 2018, and Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela weren’t invited to the U.S.-hosted summit in 2022. The Dominican Republic had introduced it might make the identical selection at this summit.
The postponement of this 12 months’s assembly highlights simply how far hemispheric relations have drifted from the imaginative and prescient of multilateralism that Clinton and regional leaders laid out greater than three many years in the past. What was meant to be the area’s first main gathering involving U.S. President Donald Trump since he started his second time period in January has develop into an emblem of deepening political divisions.
Latin American and Caribbean leaders now face a U.S. administration that—whereas closely targeted on the area—has taken a a lot more durable line than any earlier administration because the finish of the Chilly Warfare, transferring away from multilateralism and commerce integration. As an alternative of overtures of regional collaboration, leaders usually tend to hear requires a Monroe Doctrine 2.0 from Washington.
The Trump administration has made the Western Hemisphere a key foreign-policy focus. Secretary of State Marco Rubio selected the area for his first worldwide journey, forward of which he famous the necessity for the USA to conduct an “Americas First” international coverage. A draft of the administration’s new Nationwide Protection Technique reportedly locations a heavy emphasis on the area, with explicit give attention to immigration, securing the southern border, combating drug cartels, and, to a lesser extent, countering Chinese language affect.
However quite than pursue cooperative options, the Trump administration has largely relied on tariffs, threats of navy motion and additional financial coercion, and unilateral strikes that prioritize U.S. home issues. Even earlier than taking workplace, Trump mentioned taking navy motion in Mexico to fight drug cartels and, in December 2024, posted on social media that the USA may take again the Panama Canal—a declare he reiterated throughout his inaugural handle.
Though the administration has put stress on each Mexico and Panama to realize concessions, the USA has not carried out direct navy exercise in opposition to both nation thus far. Nevertheless, the administration has quickly expanded its naval presence within the Caribbean, hanging quite a few alleged drug boats and killing dozens of individuals in operations which have drawn important criticism concerning their legality. This buildup of forces has led to rising issues that the USA could use deadly drive inside Venezuelan territory.
The administration has additionally made clear its distaste for multilateralism, withdrawing from a number of main United Nations our bodies, chopping worldwide funding, and questioning U.S. participation within the OAS. Trump’s former particular envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, overtly famous his choice for partaking with international locations within the area on a bilateral foundation quite than via sub-regional boards.
Regardless of the aggressive posturing from Washington, Latin American and Caribbean governments haven’t responded uniformly to Trump’s hard-line ways. Divisions amongst leaders on how to reply to Washington have deepened regional polarization.
Some leaders have aligned themselves with Washington, usually out of shared strategic curiosity. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, for instance, has been an in depth ally on deportations, accepting U.S. deportees of assorted nationalities, whereas the USA’ latest extension of a monetary lifeline to Argentine President Javier Milei helped stabilize a serious strategic accomplice in South America that has just lately grown nearer to China.
Different international locations have put up resistance. Colombia initially refused to simply accept U.S. deportation flights, although it will definitely walked again its place after Trump threatened steep retaliatory tariffs. President Gustavo Petro has additionally voiced opposition to Trump’s actions within the Caribbean. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the meantime, grew to become vocal about defending Brasília’s sovereignty within the face of stress from the Trump administration amid the trial and conviction of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
The subsequent summit—if it happens in any respect—could not produce many concrete outcomes. Different latest regional gatherings, reminiscent of conferences of the Neighborhood of Latin American and Caribbean States, have didn’t reconcile divergent viewpoints—and including the USA to the combination will make reaching consensus much more troublesome. Nevertheless, this doesn’t imply that the summit ought to merely be canceled or postponed.
The hemisphere’s most urgent challenges—together with local weather change, organized crime, migration, and managing relations with the USA and different main powers—demand coordinated responses. No single nation has the leverage to sort out them alone. The summit additionally presents a vital alternative for Latin American international locations to outline their relationship with the USA and safe significant concessions from Washington. Even when international locations fail to interact the USA collectively, some leaders could win particular person victories.
The area could at occasions must defy Washington’s will on a few of these main points. Trump’s presidency will ultimately finish, and the area might want to have continued to develop the mandatory diplomatic instruments and constructing blocks to deal with shared issues.
This may require that international locations don’t merely boycott the summit to sign their disapproval of U.S. actions, as a number of did in 2022 in response to Washington’s resolution to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela over human rights issues. As Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the OAS, Ronald Sanders, put it, “Attendance is leverage, not endorsement.”
The Summits of the Americas have confronted their share of challenges and haven’t absolutely achieved the beliefs first specified by Miami. Even with the tenth summit delayed, its eventual taking place nonetheless affords Latin American and Caribbean leaders an opportunity to revitalize hemispheric commitments and set a brand new course—one formed by priorities set in Bogotá, Brasília, and past, not simply Washington.
