For Decades, the United States Ignored Latin America. All That Changed Under Trump.

Did the Trump Administration successfully change the Communist run regime in Venezuela?
Answer: NO
The communists remain in control.

Name one Latin American country, Communist run government, in 2026 that the current administration has successfully destroyed and replaced with any other type of free market system, Democracy, Republic…
 
And while you’re at it defending Trump. Why is it that the man has turned his back on our own Allies of 100 years? Japan, South Korea, Australia, European countries?
You do realize that if we go this route of “isolationism” our Allies will simply have no choice but to saddle up with the Communist regimes headed by Russia and China. The US is the one that has kept these countries safe and our own trade and economy has kept them going financially speaking. But we have also benefited mutually.

And then how do you think we survive as the greatest nation on earth when no one trades with us and instead allies with communist countries across the world?
 
And how about the latest move by the Trump admin to lower tariffs on imported beef? How is that America First?
Trump allows cheap foreign ground beef in to the States to somehow decrease the prices consumers pay here at the grocery stores? 90 days only? Right.
Our own farmers and ranchers find themselves competing against foreign companies prices? As if our own farming community need more problems making ends meet.

This was a purely a political move to gain favor with his base in light of the midterms in November.

Trump is not helping our economy in so many ways. And I’ve not even touched the whole Strait of Hormuz debacle which has escalated gas prices for all of us.
 
As a 3 time Trump voter, I’ll be the first to admit that I do not agree with everything he says or does and especially what he says. His mouth is his own worst enemy.
But, I too understand that he has to rely on staff for advice because there is no way that he can be reliably informed of everything going on in the world. And consider some or most advice comes from the deep state that unfortunately were not purged as they should’ve been.
I’ll close with this. While not everything that we wished for/ voted for is not happening, where would we now be if Harris/Walz were now in charge of the world?
 
To @hm1996 post, what in the past has happened to reduce our influence in Latin America was when the Canal was handed over after POTUS Carter's policy years later 1999 if I recall. Which SOUTHCOM moved to Florida. Prior to that the Engineers Battalions stationed in Panama stayed quite busy working on Latin America Projects. The 536th EN BN is known as "Nation Builders" on their unit crest. So yeah there was a lapse in 'Aid" in the region. To SOUTHCOM's credit they have been some what active. without those Engineer Battalion it get extremely expensive to ship dozer's etc. to assist those countries.

Saylor said:
Our own farmers and ranchers find themselves competing against foreign companies prices? As if our own farming community need more problems making ends meet.
Click to expand...
You MIGHT want to look at NAFTA for this (1994) POTUS Clinton ... That started the importation your referring to. Coffee has always been a import as well as some other foodstuff that we simply can't grow here. Our climate /growing season simply doesn't allow it. Even still last I checked what 15% of what is sold in the U.S. Grocery market is imported. Yes that is Up but really if you want to figure some of that out. Figure out how to reverse California's war on the farmer as well as their irrigation needs. Which honestly is maybe one of the most restrictive thing.

Saylor said:
Why is it that the man has turned his back on our own Allies of 100 years? Japan, South Korea, Australia, European countries?
Click to expand...
Not exactly 100 years for Japan ,and South Korea. But OK so where Exactly have we Turned our back on Japan, and South Korea. What level of reduction of U.S. forces for the DEFEATED Country of Japan? They are our ally because we OCCUPIED them, then shifted to actually helped their economy recover, Then we later established them as a Ally. South Korea maybe you don't know History BUT the South Koreans and the North Koreans NEVER signed the cease fire agreement. Technically they are still at war with each other. But I've not heard of 8th Army pulling out of Seoul, Nor have I heard of a reduction of U.S. Troops on the DMZ being slashed. And there is a reason we still maintain a High Presence in S. Korea especially at the DMZ it's to keep them from starting a war again. Australia well yeah we have a extremely small presence there and have done so since 1945. Mostly we have Tracking stations that we operate with Australian approval. Europe yes we have been scaling the forces there down over the years especially in Germany. with the Unification tell me why would we need to have a large presence? The danger Of the Fulda gap is gone, No longer is the "Berlin Brigade " needed at "checkpoint Charlie. The NATO to Russia border has shifted east by A LOT. Now Poland which used to be a satellite of the USSR is now NATO.. Same for a BUTT load of countries I won't go into.
ALLL OF this border shift is LONG before POTUS Trump even considered his first run into office. Another fact when the re-unification of Germany happened the Germany government was working to reduce the U.S. Foot print actively for decade prior to the Current POTUS. You might be surprised but almost 50 % of the bases was closed in Germany long before POTUS Trumps' first term. 220 to be exact.
1787524070402.png

Circa 1987

1787524108866.png

Circa 2008
1787524429623.png

Circa 2020
(current base count 46, and yes, majority of those are within the same town. That number is actually broken down to 18 or 19 towns depending on year. Also note on the map between 2008 and 2020 there was 1 additional U.S. base, so yeah to gain that base in a differing location they indeed closed one base in a town that had multiple bases and transferred unit from there to the new location at Dulmen).

I got it "orange man" bad is your motto. I am with @BillfromHighland I don't agree with 100% of the current POTUS agenda.
But I do agree more with him than any other candidate that was / is being thrown up for consideration. Yes I think the "New World Order" bull s** is exactly that BULL and yes it was once toted by a Republican former POTUS. Still Bull. do we really want to discuss just HOW much all the POTUS's administrations have dumped on the farmer since the 1980's? None are without fault, the Farmers plight isn't new and has been going on for decades. Heck even the Farmer from GA even dumped on them. No that doesn't give "orange man" a pass but their plight isn't just the past 4 , 8 or 12 years, It been multiple decades by more than 1 POTUS. I'll be the First to admit during Trumps' first run for the Presidency in the primary, I pulled for Marco Rubio. But Orange man won the primary, so looking at what the choices was , yep "Orange Man" got my nod. And I have to say it is funny sometimes to watch his antics, other times well not so much. But when I vote I vote for whom I think best serves the United States I don't vote for whom the best serve the "Allies". Beside our "Allies" spy on us as much as the adversaries do.

Since when have you ever been to Latin America, or S. Korea, or Germany/Europe? Or are you just being a echo chamber sounding off with great authority without actual knowledge? I have been to those places as well as the Middle East, although many decades ago so yes it has changed since my last time there. And pretty sure it's not exactly a great place to be. From what I can see S. Korea probably is way safer than Germany / Europe or Latin America today. Since you got to say your 2 cents, Figured I would impose mine as well.
After all we still live in a REPUBLIC "if we can keep it" . Even with our faults I would NOT want to be anywhere else than here in the U.S.
Have a great day
Regards
Mike
 
Last edited:
Sgt_Mike said:
To @hm1996 post, what in the past has happened to reduce our influence in Latin America was when the Canal was handed over after POTUS Carter's policy years later 1999 if I recall. Which SOUTHCOM moved to Florida. Prior to that the Engineers Battalions stationed in Panama stayed quite busy working on Latin America Projects. The 536th EN BN is known as "Nation Builders" on their unit crest. So yeah there was a lapse in 'Aid" in the region. To SOUTHCOM's credit they have been some what active. without those Engineer Battalion it get extremely expensive to ship dozer's etc. to assist those countries.


You MIGHT want to look at NAFTA for this (1994) POTUS Clinton ... That started the importation your referring to. Coffee has always been a import as well as some other foodstuff that we simply can't grow here. Our climate /growing season simply doesn't allow it. Even still last I checked what 15% of what is sold in the U.S. Grocery market is imported. Yes that is Up but really if you want to figure some of that out. Figure out how to reverse California's war on the farmer as well as their irrigation needs. Which honestly is maybe one of the most restrictive thing.


Not exactly 100 years for Japan ,and South Korea. But OK so where Exactly have we Turned our back on Japan, and South Korea. What level of reduction of U.S. forces for the DEFEATED Country of Japan? They are our ally because we OCCUPIED them, then shifted to actually helped their economy recover, Then we later established them as a Ally. South Korea maybe you don't know History BUT the South Koreans and the North Koreans NEVER signed the cease fire agreement. Technically they are still at war with each other. But I've not heard of 8th Army pulling out of Seoul, Nor have I heard of a reduction of U.S. Troops on the DMZ being slashed. And there is a reason we still maintain a High Presence in S. Korea especially at the DMZ it's to keep them from starting a war again. Australia well yeah we have a extremely small presence there and have done so since 1945. Mostly we have Tracking stations that we operate with Australian approval. Europe yes we have been scaling the forces there down over the years especially in Germany. with the Unification tell me why would we need to have a large presence? The danger Of the Fulda gap is gone, No longer is the "Berlin Brigade " needed at "checkpoint Charlie. The NATO to Russia border has shifted east by A LOT. Now Poland which used to be a satellite of the USSR is now NATO.. Same for a BUTT load of countries I won't go into.
ALLL OF this border shift is LONG before POTUS Trump even considered his first run into office. Another fact when the re-unification of Germany happened the Germany government was working to reduce the U.S. Foot print actively for decade prior to the Current POTUS. You might be surprised but almost 50 % of the bases was closed in Germany long before POTUS Trumps' first term. 220 to be exact.
View attachment 32430
Circa 1987

View attachment 32431
Circa 2008
View attachment 32432
Circa 2020
(current base count 46, and yes, majority of those are within the same town. That number is actually broken down to 18 or 19 towns depending on year. Also note on the map between 2008 and 2020 there was 1 additional U.S. base, so yeah to gain that base in a differing location they indeed closed one base in a town that had multiple bases and transferred unit from there to the new location at Dulmen).

I got it "orange man" bad is your motto. I am with @BillfromHighland I don't agree with 100% of the current POTUS agenda.
But I do agree more with him than any other candidate that was / is being thrown up for consideration. Yes I think the "New World Order" bull s** is exactly that BULL and yes it was once toted by a Republican former POTUS. Still Bull. do we really want to discuss just HOW much all the POTUS's administrations have dumped on the farmer since the 1980's? None are without fault, the Farmers plight isn't new and has been going on for decades. Heck even the Farmer from GA even dumped on them. No that doesn't give "orange man" a pass but their plight isn't just the past 4 , 8 or 12 years, It been multiple decades by more than 1 POTUS. I'll be the First to admit during Trumps' first run for the Presidency in the primary, I pulled for Marco Rubio. But Orange man won the primary, so looking at what the choices was , yep "Orange Man" got my nod. And I have to say it is funny sometimes to watch his antics, other times well not so much. But when I vote I vote for whom I think best serves the United States I don't vote for whom the best serve the "Allies". Beside our "Allies" spy on us as much as the adversaries do.

Since when have you ever been to Latin America, or S. Korea, or Germany/Europe? Or are you just being a echo chamber sounding off with great authority without actual knowledge? I have been to those places as well as the Middle East, although many decades ago so yes it has changed since my last time there. And pretty sure it's not exactly a great place to be. From what I can see S. Korea probably is way safer than Germany / Europe or Latin America today. Since you got to say your 2 cents, Figured I would impose mine as well.
After all we still live in a REPUBLIC "if we can keep it" . Even with our faults I would NOT want to be anywhere else than here in the U.S.
Have a great day
Regards
Mike
Click to expand...
Sgt Mike, thanks for your version of history of our Allies, Japan, South Korea, and even Australia, which is also currently run by Communist sympathizers. You totally missed my point.

Whether you admit it or not…Japan is a US Ally. S.Korea, even though currently run by a leftist regime, is a US Ally. Germany is a US Ally. Britain…Europe…
We, you and I, enjoy our current high standard of living because of trade with all these countries. They use our dollar. And if this current Administration continues down the path of isolationism, constantly insulting these long time friendly countries, we will not sustain our own comforts here at home. Pure and simple.
Do you disagree with that statement? Can the US survive without these trade partners? These countries who continue to use our own dollar, the worlds reserve currency?

At some point, if our current administration keeps going (and make no mistake, his VP is just as dangerous as he is) these nations will succumb to the deceitful wishes/plans of communist regimes (like Russia and China) and simply side with our enemies and turn on us.

Hell, I don’t usually say it, but I voted for Trump this time simply because I could not vote for a Communist candidate running for the Democrat Party (Harris this last election).

But he’s way off. His first term he had advisors (specifically foreign policy) that gave him advice AND he listened for the most part. This time around? He is surrounded by people that tell him whatever he wants to hear. And IMO he’s not working in the best interests of the American people when it comes to Russia or China. Too many pro Russia, pro China “advisors”. His first term he was going to bring back American jobs that were lost to China. Right on. Great!
Now? He takes 20-some American business CEO’s to “make deals” with the enemy the Chi-Comms? C’mon man.

The Communists strategy has never changed. The Cold War never truly stopped. They want to destroy the United States of America. They deceive our so called leadership. And our own leadership (both political Parties) are more interested in making money for themselves than protecting US citizens and our way of life.

The Russians are already building up to attack the Baltic States. It’s proven via satellite imagery that others are documenting.
Ukraine’s resilience in fighting off their invaders is the reason that China and Russia have not officially kicked off WW3 against the US and the West. Drone warfare has reshaped the battlefield.
America is in a bad way. A lot of good people here will soon be aghast at what’s to happen.

I guess I come off like an asshole here. Not my intention. I only want people to wake up and understand the threat of communism is just as great today as it was when I was a teenager in the mid 80’s and everyone thought then Republican President Reagan ended the Cold War.
 
Anyone who thinks we haven't made a difference in Venzeula should talk to someone who lives there, more who's lived through all of it.

This was wrtten & released today by my options trading coach. Born in Venezuela, lived there his entire life, he lived through the transformation from a free country to a communist dictatorship & now the start of liberation at last. I've talked to him at some depth about this, but he's written this for everyone & posted it to a site he runs called Oil Market Brief, which is about trading & investing in oil.:

Dear readers,
I don't usually write about politics. I write about markets, about risk, about the discipline of not lying to yourself. But today I'm going to break my own rule, because yesterday something happened that I need to tell you about — and to tell it properly, I have to start at the beginning.

The boy and the derricks​

I grew up in eastern Venezuela dreaming about oil. Not about money — about *oil*. The rigs, the pipelines, the engineers in hard hats who seemed to me like a priesthood of progress. In this country, oil wasn't just an industry. It was the national project. PDVSA in the early nineties was ranked among the best-run oil companies on Earth, a meritocracy in a region that had few of them. When the Apertura Petrolera opened the door to international partners in 1992, it worked: capital came, technology came, production climbed toward its peak. A serious industry, run by serious people.
That was the country I studied engineering for. I chose the discipline because I believed there would be a place for me in that project. I did the math, literally, on a future that I assumed was mine to earn.
Then 1998 arrived, and with it, chavismo.

How you kill a golden goose​

People imagine destruction as an explosion. It isn't. It's a process — methodical, ideological, and shameless.
The turning point was 2002–2003. After the oil strike, the regime didn't just win the confrontation; it decapitated the industry. Around twenty thousand professionals — geologists, reservoir engineers, refinery operators, people with decades of accumulated knowledge — were fired en masse and blacklisted. Their names were read on television like a proscription list from ancient Rome. Merit was replaced with loyalty. "Rojo, rojito" became the only qualification that mattered.
From there, everything went in one direction: down.
Corruption reached levels this continent had never seen — not skimming, not kickbacks, but the industrial-scale looting of a nation. By credible estimates, more than a trillion dollars was stolen or squandered by the chavista regime over two decades. A trillion. With a T. Enough to have rebuilt this country three times over.
The industry my generation trained for was handed to foreigners with no love for it: Chinese, Russian, Belarusian, and Iranian operators moved into our fields while our own engineers drove taxis in Bogotá and delivered food in Santiago. And Cuba — Cuba got its tribute in crude, tens of thousands of barrels shipped off as payment for the one service Havana genuinely excels at: exporting an intelligence and occupation apparatus to help repress our own civilian population.
Production collapsed from over three million barrels per day to a fraction of that. Refineries that were once regional jewels became rusting monuments. Lake Maracaibo, the cradle of our industry, turned into a graveyard of abandoned pumpjacks leaking into the water.
And the human cost — I will be crude here, because the truth is crude. The last ten years brought repression without precedent in the Americas: political prisoners by the thousands, torture centers with names every Venezuelan knows and fears, sexual violence used systematically as an instrument of state terror — all of it documented by United Nations investigators, not by exiles with an axe to grind. The regime made enemies of our natural allies in the West, starting with the United States, and made friends of every autocracy willing to help it survive. Eight million of us scattered across the world. Families broken. A generation's dreams — mine among them — confiscated.
That is what chavismo was. Not a failed experiment. A tragedy inflicted on purpose.

January 3​

Then came the early morning of January 3, 2026.
I will not pretend to describe it neutrally, because I didn't live it neutrally. When the news confirmed that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country, what I felt — what nearly everyone I know felt — was something close to a religious experience. A blessing. A liberation. The answer to twenty-seven years of prayers whispered in kitchens where people were afraid to speak loudly.
I know the commentary abroad debated sovereignty and precedent. I understand those debates. But I ask you to understand this: when you have lived under a criminal enterprise disguised as a government, the arrival of *anything else* feels like oxygen after drowning.

Yesterday​

And yesterday, the second act.
President Trump announced what he called the biggest oil deal in history: an agreement, negotiated with Venezuela's interim government, opening 17 strategic fields holding some 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. More than $100 billion in private investment. An estimated $209 billion in revenue for the Venezuelan state over the life of the project. Private operators — American and international — returning to fields that ideology emptied.
I choose to read this deal in a positive light, and I do so with open eyes, not naive ones. Here is why.
First, capital. Our industry doesn't need speeches; it needs steel, engineers, and money. This agreement brings all three at a scale Venezuela could never mobilize alone after the looting it suffered.
Second, alignment. For the first time in a generation, our oil ties us to the West — to rule of law, to markets, to our natural partners — instead of to Havana, Moscow, and Tehran. Geography and history always said this partnership was the logical one. Ideology interrupted it for 27 years.
Third, revival. Revenue means schools, hospitals, roads, and — I say this as an engineer — the reconstruction of physical infrastructure that has been cannibalized for two decades. It means, maybe, that the eight million who left have a reason to come home. That the boy in eastern Venezuela dreaming about derricks today might actually get to work on one.
Will the terms be debated? Of course. Should Venezuelans watch vigilantly to ensure the benefits reach the people and not a new class of intermediaries? Absolutely — vigilance is the tuition we paid a trillion dollars to learn. But a second chance is a second chance.

A second chance​

Life rarely offers nations a genuine restart. History is mostly a one-way street. And yet here we are: the tyrant in a Brooklyn cell, the fields reopening, capital flowing toward us instead of away from us.
Venezuela has been given a second opportunity. My generation lost its first one to a lie dressed up as a revolution. I pray — and I use that word deliberately — that this time we are wise enough, humble enough, and vigilant enough to take it.
The boy who dreamed about oil is now a 42-year-old man who writes about markets. But yesterday, for the first time in a very long time, he allowed himself to dream again.
Gracias por leerme. Thank you for reading.
Jesús Rodríguez
Lechería, Venezuela


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Written by
Jesús A. Rodríguez
 
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