Media in Venezuela, Chile and Colombia expect no turnaround in US policy on Latin America after the congressional election, but more oversight by Congress
The experts interviewed see the line toward the region as having support from both parties and foreign policy as being in the hands of the president.
Media in Latin America are asking what the congressional election means for US policy toward the region. This is based on projections according to which the Democrats win the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is no official final result yet.
Venezuela: continuity with more questions. The independent online outlet Efecto Cocuyo (Deisy Martínez, 5 November, 01:41 CET) interviewed experts. Kenneth Ramírez, president of the Venezuelan Council on International Relations (Covri), expects hearings and investigations in Congress, for example into Venezuelan oil revenues held in US Treasury accounts. Trump could be seen as weakened in Caracas, and the government there could negotiate harder. Former diplomat Jesús Mazzei Alfonzo says: “la política hacia Venezuela se va a mantener porque es bipartidista” (the policy toward Venezuela will remain because it has support from both parties). Congress, however, will demand more accountability.
Chile: room for maneuver mainly on the budget. Radio BioBioChile (Jean Valencia, 5 November, 09:46 CET) draws on material from Deutsche Welle. Maureen Meyer of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) expects the Democrats to scrutinize the budget of the Department of Homeland Security and to seek to limit the funding of the immigration agency ICE. In foreign policy, however, the president has a lot of room for maneuver. Political scientist Viviana García Pinzón of the GIGA Institute in Hamburg sees a consensus between both parties on the fight against drugs and organized crime. It is the methods that are more likely to change.
Colombia: tariffs stay, the interlocutors change. The newspaper La Nación from Neiva (Caterin Manchola, 5 November, 07:06 CET) collects voices. María Claudia Lacouture, president of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce, says the election alone does not change the administration's policy on tariffs, trade and security. She does, however, expect more questions on human rights, peace and labor rights, and closer oversight of military cooperation. Politicians from different camps read the result through the lens of their own domestic politics. Former Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara Restrepo warns: “La regla número uno de un gobernante es ser cauto de no dividir” (The first rule of a ruler is to take care not to divide).
What the texts have in common is that they expect no break in US policy toward the region, but more oversight by a Democratic Congress. These are the views of the respective media and the experts quoted there. Further press voices are under Reports, what the new Congress can do from January is in the timeline.