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Latin America is drawing attention from U.S. lawmakers eager to forge ties in an often-ignored region with growing geopolitical and economic clout.
This month, bicameral groups visited officials in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Guatemala, seeking to expand their footprint among regional powers at a crossroads after recent elections in the first two.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) led the delegation to Mexico, where lawmakers met with outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who in October will be inaugurated as the first woman and the first Jewish head of state in North America.
“Electing the first woman in the history of the country and not only that, a woman who is Jewish, in a country where the population is overwhelmingly Catholic — something’s going on there. And I think it’s good. I think it’s encouraging,” Carper said.
Though Sheinbaum is López Obrador’s political mentee and his chosen successor, the two have distinctly different personalities and backgrounds.
“Sheinbaum’s election is an opportunity for Mexico to reengage with the U.S. Congress after years of neglect by the AMLO administration, who chose to focus almost exclusively on the White House and executive branch and at times openly attacked the Republican Party,” said Duncan Wood, president of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Mexico’s disengagement with the U.S. legislative branch has been chronic: Diplomats often point out that in Washington, Mexico has the closest major embassy to the White House, while Canada’s, for contrast, is within sight of the Capitol.
And most Latin American countries, with the notable exception of Colombia, have also historically focused their Washington operations on the White House.