Chinese allies are at our backdoor, Donald Trump must fight back

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

America-First Pressure Needs to Go Beyond Lula da Silva

President Donald Trump is in a proxy geopolitical confrontation with China involving Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Leonardo Coutinho explains that Lula puts “Beijing’s interests over those of his own country … in a deliberate mission to counter US interests in the Western Hemisphere.” Unfortunately for Trump, other hemispheric leaders, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, are on the China train.

The Joe Biden regime and State Department (DOS) personnel allied with and protected Lula, Arévalo, and Petro. US officials participated in Brazil’s 2022 and Guatemala’s 2023 electoral frauds that put Lula and Arévalo in office. Lula can run again, while Arévalo and Petro cannot. Unless Trump acts, the three will steal, with help from anti-US DOS personnel, their respective elections in 2026, 2027, and 2026.

Trump ordered additional tariffs on July 30 of 40 percent on a range of Brazilian goods to protect US “national security, foreign policy, and [the] economy.” Trump ally Steve Bannon says Trump is “redoing the strategic structure of the post-World War Two world … shifting back to hemispheric defense.”

China increased its trade with Latin America from $12 billion in 2000 to $430 billion in 2021 and was the top trading partner for nine of the region’s countries. That trade growth has continued, and it increased to $518 billion in 2024.

Argentine President Javier Milei has shown that it is possible to trade with China—with total trade in 2024 of $16 billion—without being its proxy. In contrast, Lula is aligning with “powers that not only compete with the United States but also seek its downfall,” according to Coutinho, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society.

The House Oversight Committee discovered in 2023 transfers of money from China to Joe Biden through his son Hunter. This is consistent with the Biden regime helping China, including its hemispheric allies.

Trump said the Brazilian government’s actions “threaten the policy of the United States to promote free speech and free and fair elections at home and abroad.” Latin American tyrannies are natural allies of China’s tyrants. Trump must correct Biden’s and DOS’s treachery to achieve his hemispheric goals.

Trump has openly criticized Lula’s lawfare against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil’s corrupt legal system will almost surely convict Bolsonaro of insurrection, regardless of evidence or law. Biden’s lackeys tried to do this to Trump prior to the 2024 election. However, they failed because of Trump’s personal resources and the vestiges of the US rule of law that the enemy within could not negate.

Trump is correct that lawfare by our hemispheric enemies against our allies in those countries threatens US national security. Petro’s corrupt attorney general, for example, just convicted former President Alvaro Uribe. He is a political prisoner and has been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest.

Petro is setting the stage to steal the 2026 elections for his coalition.

The Biden regime and DOS were silent about Petro’s allies engaging in violence before Colombia’s 2022 election, as Democrats did before our 2020 elections. Former DOS Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols protected Petro in a 2023 congressional hearing. Nichols had “full faith in Colombian institutions to get to the bottom of” claims that Petro had received $3.4 million in illegal campaign contributions from Venezuela.

The Biden regime and DOS openly supported Arévalo with lies and intimidation to make him president. Arévalo and the DOS committed multiple crimes against Attorney General Consuelo Porras, the best US ally against narco and child trafficking in the hemisphere. Arévalo has degraded Guatemala’s armed forces by illegally keeping his partner in crime as defense minister after his time in that post legally ended. This harms US counter-narcotics efforts.

Biden’s ambassador and deputy chief of mission are still in their posts, executing Biden’s anti-US policies. They have intimidated Guatemala’s judiciary to keep Arévalo in office illegally and are helping Arévalo corrupt the army. Biden holdovers want to assure that Arévalo consolidates his power with key appointments in 2026. Then his regime can steal the 2027 election, and Guatemala will become an overt ally of Nicolás Maduro.

Lula, Petro, and Arévalo are part of the Puebla Group, which includes Cuban and Venezuelan leaders. Petro plays a role in Lula’s efforts with Xi Jinping to undermine the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. To delegitimize US foreign policy, both Lula and Petro have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Arévalo is more circumspect regarding China and Israel. He fears Trump could notice US officials’ betrayal of him and support the proper application of the law. Even so, Arévalo showed his true self when he reversed 77 years of strong relations with Israel when Guatemala voted against US positions regarding Israel in 2024 at the United Nations.

As he has regarding Brazil, Trump should directly take control of US policy towards Colombia and Guatemala. The United States could take a consistent stand against tyranny in the region. Besides undoing Biden’s damage, such actions would inspire US allies throughout the hemisphere.

Steve Hecht is a businessman, writer, and film producer, born and raised in New York. He has lived and worked in Guatemala since 1972. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration in Banking and Finance, both from Columbia University.

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