ABSTRACT
Donald Trump’s policies toward Latin America are not unprecedented. They largely harken back to the dominant pillars of his predecessors. Self-interest, prejudice, and liberalism have interacted to build U.S. empire in the Americas since the early nineteenth century. Self-interest emphasized trade deals in favor of the United States, the exploitation of resources, and geostrategic fears, and resulted in the taking of Latin America’s land, the limiting of its development, and military interventions. In the Trump years, it has meant scrapping the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. While some self-interest is required in inter-American relations, prejudice, the second pillar, is not. Racism and paternalism are social constructions that have allowed U.S. citizens to justify their self-interest all while feeling good about themselves. Trump’s demeaning rhetoric about Haiti and Central American countries and his desire to extend the southern border wall are expressions of such prejudice. A third pillar of inter-American relations, liberalism, has somewhat mitigated the other two. It posits a world order that prizes collaboration and stability. The Latin American policy of Donald Trump maintains only traces of liberalism while being dominated by self-interest and prejudice.
