What could Donald Trump's return mean for Latin America?

Even before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose huge trade tariffs on Mexico, deport millions of undocumented Latino migrants out of the United States and crack down on the flow of drugs like fentanyl from Latin America into the US. And he's threatened to take control of the Panama Canal and re-name the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.

He has criticised the BRICS group of developing nations – which includes Brazil – for floating the idea of a new currency to challenge the dominance of the US dollar in international trade. And he has praised Argentina’s maverick right-wing president Javier Milei for cutting state expenditure.

So what will Trump’s second presidency mean for Latin America – a region that used to be known as “America’s back yard”?

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Presented and produced by Gideon Long Additional reporting by Vianey Alderete in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

(Picture: The border wall on the US-Mexico border, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico October 23, 2024. Credit: Reuters)