Tim ZylaThirteen years ago, former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias shared a lunch with Washington Post reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the peace accord he established between five Central American nations ravaged by conflict.
Last week, the U.S. revoked his visa.
The state department told NPR visa records are confidential and cannot be discussed publicly. Arias said workers at the U.S. embassy in Costa Rica informed him the action had been taken over his close ties to the Chinese government.
Arias has been critical of U.S. President Donald Trump and earlier this year compared him to a “Roman emperor.” The Nobel Laureate believes those comments may have led to the decision to revoke his visa.
A Shift in Policy
Signalling to Arias that he is no longer welcome in the U.S. is the most high-profile example of a noticeable shift in policy from the Trump administration.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memo to diplomats asking them to search through the social media accounts of visa applicants. This follows an executive order signed by Trump that jump-started an effort to deport individuals from the country who have “hostile attitudes” toward American values.
Trump has also inked an order to reduce antisemitism that has been used to justify the deportation of students protesting against Israel’s military actions in Gaza. On Thursday, Inside Higher Ed reported the state department has modified or revoked more than 600 student visas since the order was signed.
Populism in LatAm
The left wing in Latin America has historically opposed the influence exerted by the United States in the region. Arias’ goal for peace in 1986 was not helped by the U.S. funding of the right-wing Contra rebels that were causing instability in Nicaragua.
After years of political dominance, the left capitulated when the Conservative Wave hit Latin America about 10 years ago, bringing an influx of right-wing leadership to numerous countries. But the branding, this time, was not quite the same as the conservative administrations of years past.
Raquel Chanto, a Costa Rican political scientist and Oxford University Ph.D. candidate, cited a global decline in trust as being responsible for the rise of populist leaders in an interview with Yoriko Yasukawa, vice president of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability.
“Trust is the philosopher’s stone of political systems, something you can translate into results through legitimacy, buy-in and willingness to cooperate and engage in political agreements,” Chanto said. “Overall, people trust systems that they believe are fair, consistent, open and responsive; where they feel included and heard, and their needs are addressed. That is to say that citizens trust the good government.”
Rhetoric vs. Reality
Teamstation AI CEO and Co-Founder Lonnie McRorey has lived in Mexico for nine years while operating his nearshore staffing system company.
“I think more professionals are trying to stay here — they’re not so eager to go to the U.S.,” he said. “But, look, the dollar still has a very powerful way. There are people here willing to risk everything in their lives to make $300.”
McRorey said that the disparity among Mexican nationals creates an interesting dynamic, with the ability for many to have a quality of life at or surpassing what the U.S. offers while still seeing abject poverty and citizens trying to escape the country.
“There’s high taxes, no access to health care,” he said of the U.S. “Believe it or not, quality of life in LatAm is better than in the U.S. in many ways.”
Latin American reliance on economic support from the United States has waned in recent years as China begins to exert influence in the region. Arias, while Costa Rica’s president, established diplomatic relations with China in 2007. The BRICS economic bloc, originally a partnership between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, announced in January it was adding nine “partner” nations, which included Bolivia. Additionally, BRICS says it has received interest from Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela to join the partnership.
‘Sympathy for the Devil’
The U.S. military is taking notice. A report released by the Army-operated Foreign Military Studies Office states that there is an increase in the number of Latin American countries looking to develop significant overseas relations.
“This development signals that dictatorships in Latin America see the BRICS grouping as an economic and political lifeline amid difficult economic and diplomatic moments. Relatedly, the inclusion of a greater number of Latin American countries in BRICS will bring China and Russia further into the Western hemisphere, where both have been increasing their influence of late,” the report states.
Similarly, a report issued by Irene Mia, a senior fellow for Latin America at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the U.S. should be wary of celebrating its near-term policy victories, such as tackling drug trafficking, before it fully realizes some of the long-term effects its rhetoric toward Latin America may bring.
“Without concrete measures to support Latin America’s economic growth and diversification, and to bolster its Democratic institutions, China will remain a dominant economic force in the region,” Mia wrote. “Additionally, trade tariffs and deportations of undocumented migrants to their countries of origin — particularly through the economic blow of lost remittances — will wreak havoc on Latin American economies, making China’s trade and investment even more attractive.”
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