The Americas’ Axis of Affinity: US coercion, influence, and the ghosts of gunboat diplomacy

In Angela Diffley’s wide‑ranging interview with Daniel Landsberg‑Rodriguez, the founding partner at Aurora Macro Strategies frames the Trump administration’s approach in Latin America as a hybrid of 19th‑century coercive diplomacy combined with a novel strategy of selective alignment. The US now appears to favour governments whose leadership style resonates with Washington’s populist, anti‑institutional tone. He argues that some countries in Latin America are responding to a contest of affinity: the more Trump‑style you are, the more privileged your treatment. The shift is having major implications for countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Venezuela.