Trump’s Western Hemisphere Pivot and the Implications for Latin America

Valerie Ho, CFA, a Portfolio Manager on DoubleLine’s Global Sovereign Debt team, and Nicholas Engler, an Analyst on the team, discuss the ramifications for Latin American issuers of sovereign debt amid a sea change in American foreign policy signaled by the U.S. capture and indictment of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro. “Operation Absolute Resolve, as the Maduro operation was code-named, serves as a defining illustration of a renewed willingness of President Donald Trump to deploy economic and military coercion to achieve `America First’ objectives” in the Western Hemisphere, Ms. Ho and Mr. Engler write. That strategic shift, with its attendant possible use of hard military and economic power, the authors note, comes amid a heavy 2025-2026 election cycle in Latin America that “could realign governing ideologies and, thus, bilateral risks and opportunities” in the region.