Welcome to the New Monroe Doctrine, where we talk about what's going on in the Western Hemisphere, especially as it relates to the United States.   

Remember in March when the Donald Trump administration (and more specifically, Marco Rubio) put together the Shield of the Americas? It's an alliance of like-minded leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean who want to partner with the United States to combat organized crime, violence, and drug trafficking in our region, plus it's a way to keep adversaries like China at bay, and I know it's led to some economic and energy deals. The countries involved (for now) are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. Fingers crossed, there are more to come. 

🇸🇻🇺🇸🇨🇷🇭🇳🇵🇦🇦🇷🇨🇱🇵🇾🇧🇴🇪🇨🇩🇴🇬🇾🇹🇹

Estos son los países que, junto a El Salvador y Estados Unidos, integran Shield of the Americas: una organización para recuperar la paz en el Hemisferio Occidental, garantizar la seguridad de nuestros ciudadanos y enfrentar sin tregua al crimen… pic.twitter.com/1vsEFzzVKP

— Casa Presidencial 🇸🇻 (@PresidenciaSV) March 7, 2026

The message from Trump and Rubio is that these countries are our friends, and we have their backs if they stay that way. For any other president, I feel like it would have been merely symbolic, but with Trump in charge, we're actually seeing that it takes action in many forms. 

Last week, we talked about the coup in Bolivia and the election in Colombia. This week, I have updates on both. Both have the potential to lead to regional instability that will directly impact the United States, so they're situations we need to pay close attention to, and the Shield of the Americas is doing just that. 

Bolivia

Just to recap: After decades of instability under the socialist MAS party, Bolivia elected center-right pragmatic President Rodrigo Paz in 2025 to clean up the mess left by Evo Morales and his successors. Paz inherited a broke country, haunted by inflation, fuel shortages, and countless other problems, and he's been taking major steps to fix them. But MAS, led by Morales, who is currently in hiding, hasn't accepted the defeat. In late April, protests erupted into riots and highway blockages that are leading to food and medical shortages. They're demanding Paz's resignation, but they're also killing the Bolivian people. Hundreds have been arrested, at least five people have died (some say more), and it's cost an already financially fragile country $1.6 billion. The situation has become incredibly intense in the last week.  

Paz is currently trying to push a bill through their Parliament that makes it easier to implement a state of emergency. This would also make it easier to implement police and military action to protect public order and deliver humanitarian aid. Several high-level Cabinet members have resigned, as well, including the Defense Minister, and Paz has replaced them with people who are a bit more equipped to deal with the situation going forward. 

Rubio spoke personally with Paz on Thursday, "to reaffirm the United States’ unwavering commitment to support Bolivia’s democracy and the Paz Administration as it rebuilds the country after 20 years of failed socialist policies." Here's more about the call: 

The two leaders discussed the current situation in Bolivia and shared priorities for advancing security and stability across our region. The Secretary noted the United States is ramping up emergency assistance and logistics operations support in Bolivia to help those facing acute food and medical shortages due to illegal roadblocks intended to destabilize Bolivian society. Secretary Rubio reaffirmed that the Trump Administration will continue to stand with Bolivia as it works toward stability, security, and a better future for all Bolivians.

And on Friday, the Shield of the Americas released a joint statement: 

The member countries of Shield of the Americas denounce ongoing efforts to overthrow the legitimately and overwhelmingly elected government of President Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia. We stand with Paz’s democratic government as it fights back against attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies to the Bolivian people through fake road blockades. Mob rule cannot replace the decision that a majority of Bolivians made at the ballot box to turn the page on two decades of corrupt governments. Those who are funding these protests with dirty money from drug trafficking and transnational crime should be held accountable. Those who have legitimate grievances should take advantage of the government’s willingness to dialogue, and denounce those who would abuse their causes to regain power.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and what kind of assistance the United States and other countries provide beyond rhetoric. We can't allow Bolivia to fall back into the hands of MAS. Both Paz and the Trump administration have called it a leftist coup attempt backed by organized crime and drug traffickers. They are right. 

Colombia 

I've written a good bit about the elections in Colombia this week. The current socialist president, Gustavo Petro's, hand-picked candidate, Iván Cepeda, was leading in the polls up until the actual election day, but it was the outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, aka "El Tigre," who got the most votes. Unfortunately, he didn't get enough to win outright, so there will be a runoff on June 21, and Petro is having a major meltdown over it. He's accused the other side of all sorts of fraud, but even international observers say that it was a free and fair election. 

You can read more about the election and candidates here: Colombia to the Right? Anti-Crime Outsider Crushes Election Expectations.

You can also read more about how Trump has now endorsed El Tigre here: The President Endorses the Tiger

The U.S. is keeping a close eye on the elections. Rubio mentioned it during his congressional hearings this week, and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on social media that the State Department is not afraid to take away the visas of anyone accused of undermining the election process.  

.@SecRubio testified before Congress this week that the US is committed to protecting Colombia’s democracy. He has also explained on many occasions that a US visa is a privilege, not a right, and that visa denials and revocations are powerful tools for advancing our foreign… pic.twitter.com/tUTK9pXFHM

— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) June 4, 2026

Mr. de la Espriella —who, as I've reported, is a big fan of Trump, Javier Milei of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele of El Salvador — promises that he will turn Colombia around and become the fourteenth member of the Shield of the Americas, should he win on June 21. It would be huge for us, given how much cocaine comes out of Colombia and how many criminal organizations it shelters. I know Trump and Rubio would love nothing more than to get in there and handle that the same way we're doing elsewhere in Latin America. 

But now, I want to talk about soccer (which is not a phrase I ever thought I'd say), but Colombia's national soccer team has actually found itself at the center of this whole election mess, and it's sort of comical. Petro and his daughter, Antonella, sent the team off to the World Cup this week with a ceremony. Most of the players looked less than thrilled to be interacting with their clown of a president, but the video that went viral from the ceremony was Antonella asking captain James Rodríguez — the team's biggest star — if he'd take a picture with her. He totally ignored her. Here's the video. It's in Spanish, but you get the sentiment. 

La hija de Petro pidió a James Rodríguez una foto y así le respondió: https://t.co/CLPJuiqzHr pic.twitter.com/XiaCkRyV6x

— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) June 4, 2026

He didn't look any more thrilled to be meeting her father: 

Un silencio fulminante le disparó James Rodríguez a Gustavo Petro, No tuvo que decir mucho, pero su posición representa la de millones de colombianos que ven a Gustavo Petro como el peor presidente de la historia de Colombia y el promotor de la impunidad y la violencia total pic.twitter.com/NJMD9cFGVt

— Arturo McFields Yescas (@ArturoMcfields) June 5, 2026

As a matter of fact, no one on the team looked particularly thrilled to take a picture with their president. Word on the street is that Rodríguez is a big El Tigre fan, and it looks like many of these other guys are too. El Tigre has actually been rocking their iconic yellow national jersey at rallies, and while the fans love it, Petro responded with indignation, claiming the jersey should be for "unity," not elections. Jokes on him; it looks like the Colombian people are unifying — around de la Espriella. 

Es fantástica esta foto.

Hagan zoom y miren los rostros de los jugadores de la selección con Petro. pic.twitter.com/Wz7RfpUfDw

— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) June 4, 2026

Petro and Cepeda's supporters responded, of course, by vandalizing the team's bus. Leftists are gonna do what they do, no matter the country.  

Así quedó el bus de la selección Colombia después de que el candidato de Petro se metiera con la camiseta. ¿Ahora entienden la cara de la selección en la reunión? Petro y Cepeda son destrucción y odio. pic.twitter.com/AEs3OGIOPK

— Esteban Merchan 〽️ (@EstebanMerchan7) June 5, 2026

A Few Other Things

I'm cutting out early tonight because I have some things to do, and I'm sure my dear editor and friend Chris Queen will appreciate having about 1,000 fewer words to edit, but here are a few more stories from our hemisphere that I've covered this week. 

1. For those of you into true crime: Accident or Murder? Another American Missing in Paradise 

2. A Cuba update: Cuba Falling: A Most Unusual Meeting

3. Another Cuba update: Cuba Falling: I Didn't Even Know You Could Do This Many Sanctions

4. If you're gonna visit Mexico, try not to let this happen: Wrong Place, Wrong Time: American Man Caught in Cartel Shootout Dies

5. In which we take out more narco-boats and talk about Operation Southern Spear: Operation Southern Spear Is Working, and It's Not Coming to an End Anytime Soon

And these were merely hemisphere-adjacent, but if you missed Rubio's congressional hearings this week, pop you some popcorn and watch him make the Democrats look like idiots (not that they don't do a great job of that themselves): 

1. Marco Rubio Went to Capitol Hill Today, and the Smackdown Was Brutal

2. Day 2: Rubio Enters a Hostile Clown Show, and... Well, You Just Have to See This

Well, I guess that's it for me. As I say, Rubio isn't handing me exclusives... yet. But he's been pretty busy dealing with that circus on Capitol Hill this week. I'll see what next week brings. 

Have a great weekend, y'all!  

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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