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US President Donald Trump will meet with ideologically-aligned Latin American leaders to try and counter China's influence in the region.
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While the US spent much of the last decade focused elsewhere, China is now the region's top lender and trading partner, financing major projects like the $3.5bn (£2.6bn) Chancay megaport in Peru and the Bogotá metro in Colombia, among others.
Now, the American government wants to reclaim lost ground. But experts warn that establishing meaningful relationships will take more than military posturing, tariffs, and strong-arming.
Leading the diplomatic effort is Kristi Noem — dismissed by Trump this week as Secretary of Homeland Security — who has been tapped as special envoy for the summit. "In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise," Noem wrote on X following her firing.
She will be joined by conservative leaders from eight nations — Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvador, Chile, Panama, Honduras, Guyana, and Ecuador — who share ideological ties with the Trump administration. Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil will be absent.
Evan Ellis, professor of Latin American studies at the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, expects the summit to focus on drug trafficking, migration, counter-terrorism, and curbing Beijing's hemispheric influence.
"I'm kind of anticipating a Latin American CPAC," says adds Ellis, referencing the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which draws right-leaning politicos from across the US.
The Trump administration has said Saturday's summit aims to "enlist and expand" US friends in the Western Hemisphere and limit Chinese engagement across the Americas, including moving to prevent rivals from establishing military or strategic footholds in the region. The meeting follows Trump's recent focus on the Caribbean, and his earlier statements about how the US sh
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