\n There was plenty to discuss. What the White House refers to as the \u201crestoration of American preeminence\u201d in Latin America has within just a few months seen the capture of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, an oil blockade on Cuba<\/a>, numerous lethal strikes on alleged narcotrafficking boats<\/a> in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and the designation of drug cartels as terrorist groups<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n According to the White House, it\u2019s been a \u201ctremendous success\u201d that has \u201cstrengthened our relationships in our own backyard\u201d and made \u201cthe entire region safer.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Bramnick favorably compared Trump\u2019s tactics to those under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.\n <\/p>\n \n Under Biden and Obama, Bramnick said, \u201cwe saw in the US and Latin America progressive, leftist networks attempting to control foreign policy and steer the Americas and Latin America towards globalism and communism and an anti-Christian agenda.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBut certainly, there is a new sheriff in town,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd things are changing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The new sheriff is, of course, the man with his name by the ballroom door.\n <\/p>\n \n In the flag-lined vestibule outside the ballroom, Colombian Minister of Defense Pedro S\u00e1nchez schmoozed alongside other attendees, surrounded by an entourage of aides in military uniform.\n <\/p>\n \n He was a surprising guest, given the US has sanctioned Colombia\u2019s leftist President Gustavo Petro<\/a> for allegedly allowing \u201cdrug cartels to flourish.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The sanctions run parallel to Trump\u2019s efforts to bring the tools and rhetoric of the Global War on Terror to bear against drug cartels, designating a handful as terrorist groups early on in his second term. The conference even began with a panel discussion on \u201cthe imperative of recognizing drug cartels as terrorist groups.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOne of the themes of this conference is our allies, and supposed allies, who say that they\u2019re going to do certain things \u2013 we want to support them in doing so,\u201d the Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said of the invite extended to Colombia.\n <\/p>\n \n The implied criticism \u2013 that Colombia isn\u2019t doing enough to fight drug trafficking \u2013 is part of why S\u00e1nchez decided to attend. Sitting on the patio between the main clubhouse and the ballroom building, S\u00e1nchez said the reason Colombia is here is \u201cbecause we\u2019re an essential piece of the puzzle.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf the problem is global, it\u2019s necessary to keep (our) relationships. International crimes don\u2019t recognize borders.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Some of the other Colombian guests were not pleased that S\u00e1nchez was there. A group of them scoffed over lunch that S\u00e1nchez would take two days to visit Miami when there was plenty to do back home in Colombia. A local governor had tagged S\u00e1nchez in a post on X<\/a> the day before, demanding that the ministry of defense deal with vandalism allegedly caused by anti-mining activists.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTwo complete days in this forum?\u201d said Maria Jos\u00e9 Bernal, an economist and business lobbyist, incredulous. \u201cI know it\u2019s super important, but two days? A minister of defense of our country, away from our country\u2026\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n S\u00e1nchez was sitting a few tables away and did not appear to be occupied with any interviews. Asked whether she had told him her concerns, Bernal hesitated.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWell,\u201d Bernal said. \u201cI tweeted it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n I approached S\u00e1nchez after lunch to ask him what he thought of Bernal\u2019s criticisms.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe cannot satisfy 100% of the people,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said.\n <\/p>\n \n S\u00e1nchez was one of the few representatives of a leftist government speaking at the forum. Many of the government speakers<\/a> came from either conservative administrations cozy with the White House, or from opposition parties in Latin America that admire Trump.\n <\/p>\n \n Paulo Bilynskyj, a bearded deputy in the lower house of Brazil\u2019s congress, was among the latter group. He\u2019s a member of the same party as Brazil\u2019s former President Jair Bolsonaro, often compared to Trump for his pugnacious style, his far-right politics and his aborted effort to stay in power after losing a national election.\n <\/p>\n \n At lunch, Bilynskyj sat with a small group of right-wing Brazilian legislators, officials and influencers, all opponents of Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva\u2019s leftist government.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI simply don\u2019t understand why we don\u2019t have more Brazilian officials,\u201d Bilynskyj said of the conference\u2019s attendees. \u201cIt would be so important.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n A former policeman in S\u00e3o Paulo, Bilynskyj had argued at the morning session that the US ought to provide Brazilian law enforcement with military-style equipment and air support to fight organized crime.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBiden was very destructive,\u201d he said afterwards, cutting into steak from the buffet. \u201cHe funded all the wrong things in Brazil. That makes me very angry and very resentful.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Biden era also coincided with another painful moment for Bilynskyj: Lula\u2019s election victory in 2022. The vote and its aftermath \u2013 which included a January 6-style riot<\/a> at the national capital complex in Brasilia \u2013 ended with Bolsonaro sentenced to over 27 years in prison<\/a>, convicted with numerous other officials of plotting a self-coup. (Due to health issues, Bolsonaro is temporarily serving part of his sentence under house arrest.)\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhen I ran for Congress, I thought that Bolsonaro was going to be the president, and I could work with him to get a better Brazil,\u201d said Bilynskyj. \u201cWhen Lula got elected \u2013 which was a fraud \u2013 my whole vision for the future fell apart.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Some of those accused alongside Bolsonaro were present at the forum. Bolsonaro\u2019s former intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem, now in exile in Miami, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his alleged involvement in the coup. He livestreamed at the table with a right-wing influencer whom Bilynskyj referred to only as \u201cMr. Gums.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Though their hero is in prison, the Brazilians were hopeful. Bilynskyj believes fervently that Bolsonaro\u2019s son Fl\u00e1vio will win the next election in October and put everything right.\n <\/p>\n \n Bolsonaro was in the same class in military school as Bilynskyj\u2019s father, he explained.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTalking to my father and talking to Jair is like talking to the same person,\u201d Bilynskyj said. \u201cI understand him like I understand my father.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The other legislator eating lunch with Bilynskyj was a Bolsonaro supporter, too, though he was also interested in exploring older forms of government. Luiz Philippe de Orleans e Braganc\u0327a\u2019s great-great-great grandfather Pedro II, whose reign ended in 1889, was the last Emperor of Brazil. Luiz Philippe extolled the virtues of empire as he enjoyed a plate of shrimp and rice.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe monarchy is a much better system,\u201d Luiz Philippe said. \u201cThere\u2019s no question about it. No question.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Both Bilynskyj and Luiz Philippe are looking forward to the upcoming biopic of Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>, \u201cDark Horse,\u201d starring the American actor Jim Caviezel. Bilynskyj was dismayed that I hadn\u2019t seen Caviezel\u2019s performance as Jesus in Mel Gibson\u2019s \u201cPassion of the Christ.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhat are you doing in your time? You playing f**king Pok\u00e9mon?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhat religion are you?\u201d When I told him that I\u2019m Jewish, he smiled widely and placed a hand on my shoulder. \u201cOkay, you\u2019re wrong.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Miami is a natural location for a conference on Latin America. Spanish is the predominant language inside and outside the Trump National Doral. And given this is the most Cuban city in the United States, it was only natural that discussions would turn to the old country.\n <\/p>\n \n Two days before the conference began, Cuba\u2019s national power grid failed amid the ongoing US fuel blockade of the island, which began after the US cut the flow of oil between Venezuela and Cuba in the wake of Maduro\u2019s capture.\n <\/p>\n \n The effect of the shortage has been stark: trash piling high on the curbs of Havana, hospitals limiting their services, less food at the marketplace and rare public protests. Meanwhile, Trump has mused that he\u2019s thinking of \u201ctaking\u201d Cuba,<\/a> which has been at odds with the US since its Communist revolution in 1959.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of expectations that I\u2019ve seen for some real changes in Cuba, which I personally haven\u2019t felt at any point in the past couple decades,\u201d said Andr\u00e9s Mart\u00ednez-Fern\u00e1ndez, a Latin America expert at the Heritage Foundation and the conference\u2019s chief organizer.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere\u2019s a pretty clear signal that this is not going to be a temporary item on the agenda of the United States,\u201d he added. \u201cI think the conditions on the ground are also more receptive to that kind of change.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"Colombia's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gettyimages-2266531146.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Opposition](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gettyimages-2227963817.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026-03-17t204150z-1025718679-rc2c6ka2mpjl-rtrmadp-3-cuba-crisis-power-20260327143604539.JPG\")
<\/p>\n