RIO DE JANEIRO – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s victory in Brazil’s presidential election is a blow to Donald Trump’s plan for the Western Hemisphere.
The U.S. president was hoping to huddle with client states to the south who mimic his business and mano dura (iron fist) posturing, while further betraying liberal partners. That plan, within reach until Sunday’s vote, is now in tatters.
Disentangling from the world and retreating into a seemingly controllable hemispheric stronghold has been an American dream since the early 19th century. It was inscribed in the Monroe Doctrine, pronounced by President James Monroe in 1823 to warn Europeans against meddling in the Americas, then revived in the 1890s, during the U.S. war against Spain. The inter-American project then moved backstage until Trump tried to revive it once again.
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