President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand U.S. influence in Latin America faced setbacks after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff and Paraguay’s president came under pressure to resign. (Foto: Instagram)
President Donald Trump has suffered at least three political setbacks at home and abroad over the past two weeks, according to the account, putting pressure on his effort to expand U.S. influence in Latin America. The losses include the defeat of a politically aligned candidate in Brazil, a financial crisis involving Paraguayan President Santiago Peña and Democrats’ gains in the U.S. midterm elections.
The administration’s regional approach has been dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine,” a blend of Trump’s name and the Monroe Doctrine, which dates to the 19th century. President James Monroe’s foreign policy opposed outside powers’ influence in Latin America while advancing U.S. influence in the region. Trump has pursued a similar goal, seeking to reduce China’s presence and strengthen ties with right-wing leaders in Latin America. Recent shifts toward right-wing governments in Panama, Chile, Peru and Colombia had appeared to support that effort.
Brazil did not follow that pattern. In the Oct. 25 presidential runoff, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Flávio Bolsonaro, whose family has ties to Trump, and won a fourth term. Trump did not publicly endorse Flávio, but people familiar with White House thinking viewed a victory by the Brazilian senator as a chance to expand U.S. influence in Latin America through political alignment. In June, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Brazil as an exception among U.S. allies in the hemisphere, grouping it with Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba and Colombia, which was then led by former President Gustavo Petro. Flávio had said during the campaign that he wanted to align Brazil with U.S. interests. He also pledged to designate Brazilian criminal organizations as terrorist groups and join the U.S.-backed Shield of the Americas initiative, positions opposed by Lula’s government.
After Flávio’s defeat, Lula’s victory was seen by people close to Brazil’s government as a serious setback for the Trump administration and a blow to the prospect of expanding U.S. influence through a Bolsonaro presidency. Two days after the election, Flávio left Brazil for the United States, where he now lives with his family in Miami. The account characterizes his departure as a flight. He is under investigation by Brazilian authorities in cases involving alleged corruption, money laundering and foreign-exchange evasion; the allegations have not been established as fact.
Peña’s decision to resign in Paraguay is another potential setback for Trump, whose regional ally had maintained a direct line to the White House and joined key U.S. initiatives. Peña’s leadership came under pressure after the Central Bank of Paraguay ordered the liquidation of Ueno bank, saying it was insolvent, and prosecutors requested a criminal investigation into the institution. Peña, an economist, was a shareholder in Ueno Holding until March 2025; the company is connected to the group that controls the bank. He faced an impeachment request after the crisis and decided to resign as it advanced. Paraguay’s Congress must determine whether to accept his resignation, which he is expected to submit formally.
Trump also lost Republican control of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, a result that could complicate the final two years of his term. Republicans’ control of both the House and Senate had given him more room to advance his agenda and resist investigations and opposition actions. The races included 35 Senate seats, all 435 House seats and 36 governorships. Democrats secured 54 Senate seats, above the 50-seat threshold for control, and won 247 House seats, 29 more than the 218 needed for a majority. Democrats also gained five governorships compared with the 2024 elections, bringing their total to 28 states; Republicans held 20.
