Evan Ellis - Towards a New Strategy for Engagement in the Americas
Dear Colleagues:
With the arrival of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Battle Group in the Caribbean, and the State Department designation of Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the U.S. appears poised for a new phase of military action in the Caribbean beyond the lethal interdiction of 21 watercraft conducted to date.
The reopening of the U.S. military facility at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, and U.S. military construction to accommodate a greater throughput of military aircraft there suggest that at least some part of the expanded U.S. military presence in the region could be enduring.
Beyond Venezuela, in South America, the U.S. has also demonstrated expanded support to friendly governments, including its significant U.S. financial support for the administration of Javier Milei, the ongoing strong military partnership with the Daniel Noboa government in Ecuador, U.S. offers of financial support and other engagement to the new Rodrigo Paz government in Bolivia, and new investment initiatives and openness to partnership with the Santiago Pena government in Paraguay.
In each of these initiatives, the Trump Administration is showing greater attention to, and a willingness to act decisively in Latin America and the Caribbean, yet the way it is doing so has created uncertainty among actors in and beyond the region.
In my latest work, I review developments in the region, weaving together my interpretations of what is happening with U.S. engagement in the Caribbean, and in other parts of the hemisphere. I argue that the U.S. has a unique opportunity, as well as a strategic need, to complement its current actions, which to some seem idiosyncratic and improvised, with a coherent, expanded, re-engineered program of support for countries of the region in the economic, institutional, and other spheres, coupled with clear, consistent strategic communications about its intentions and value proposition.
That re-engineered and expanded support, correcting for problems with past U.S. assistance programs, arguably should be centered around themes of rule-of-law, empowerment of the individual, democracy, and market-based economies. Consistent with this, U.S. engagement should include significant support for the fight against corruption, bolstering institutional capacity, and helping the region ensure a stable social basis for sustaining democracy and rule of law governments by making sure its residents have a foundation of education and the meeting of basic health and sustenance needs. Such U.S. "assistance” should leverage, and be transmitted, in part, through a significantly expanded component of “people-to'-people” programs, including both in-region and in-U.S. education, as well as outreach trips to the U.S. for current and upcoming leaders, among others.
In short, the U.S. should round-out its current expanded support to its friends and pressure on its adversaries, through a interconnected, consistent package of values, benefits, and consequences that the region can understand and rally around, helping to strengthen Latin America and the Caribbean as a bulwark against predatory extra-hemispheric actors such as China, Russia, and Iran.
The work is available HERE for download in ENGLISH:
It is available HERE for download in SPANISH:
It is available in ENGLISH from Opidata HERE:
https://legadoalasamericas.org/toward-a-new-strategy-for-engagement-in-the-americas/
It is available in SPANISH from Opidata HERE:
https://legadoalasamericas.org/hacia-una-nueva-estrategia-de-participacion-en-las-americas/
Media Appearances, and Radio Shows:
I would like to share with you my latest podcasts, media appearance and radio shows.
These include my presentation to the Interamerican Institute for Democracy (in Spanish) on November 12, 2025: “Cuba hoy” (67 años de dictadura) por José Daniel Ferrer
As usual, they further include my weekly segment of the John Batchelor Show “The New World Report””. The latest episodes (November 13, 2025) are:
Venezuela: https://audioboom.com/posts/8806234-the-arrival-of-the-us-carrier-gerald-ford-signals-an-escalating-commitment-to-possible-military-s
Peru: https://audioboom.com/posts/8806236-peru-faces-severe-political-instability-evidenced-by-six-presidents-in-two-years-and-detentions
Honduras and Argentina: https://audioboom.com/posts/8806237-honduras-is-holding-a-high-stakes-single-round-election-where-the-outcome-could-determine-if-the
Brasil and COP-30: https://audioboom.com/posts/8806238-cop-30-is-largely-political-theater-with-commitments-insufficient-to-address-climate-change-es
Website for all Publications:
As always, at my professional website you can access these, and past publications, webinars and podcasts:
REvanEllis.com
Latest Book on China-Latin America:
My latest book, China Engages Latin America: Distorting Development and Democracy, is available through my publisher Palgrave-Macmillan, at:
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-96049-0
Please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague. If you would like to be included in my (always free) distribution list, I welcome the opportunity to include you:
Thank you, as always, for your interest in my work.
Respectfully,
R. Evan Ellis, PhD
Latin America Research Professor
U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
@REvanEllis
Website: https://revanellis.com