Welcome to Week 4 of "The New Monroe Doctrine," where I give you an update on what's going on in the Western Hemisphere, south of our border, especially as it relates to the U.S.
On Sunday, I wrote about how "Something is Changing in Latin America," and in case you missed it, that "something" is that many citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean are demanding an end to the Pink Tide. They're sick of communism, corrupt dictators, organized crime, and narco-states. They crave capitalism, democracy, and leaders who will stand up to violent cartels and terrorist organizations. I won't reiterate what I wrote about every country in that article. If you're a VIP, you can go check it out at the link below, but I do want to mention some more changes that might be coming to our backyard soon.
Related: Something Is Changing in Latin America
Honduras
I'm going to try to keep this simple since I'm getting a late start on it, but there is a possibility that Honduras could take a big swing to the right if the upcoming elections are free and fair.
The nation goes to the polls on November 30 to elect its next president, plus 128 congressional seats, 20 seats in the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), and close to 300 mayoral positions.
Xiomara Castro is the country's current far-left president. She's the wife of the corrupt former president, Manuel Zelaya, an old buddy of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, who was ousted and exiled in 2009. Her reign has been a disaster. The economy is a mess. Infrastructure is crumbling. Gangs have taken over many communities. And political corruption is so bad that many say it's the number one issue on the ballot.
The presidential election will likely come down to three candidates: Castro's hand-picked successor, Rixi Moncada, and her two center-right opponents, Salvador Nasralla and Nasry Asfura. Initially, Moncada was pretty high up in the pre-election polling, but something is shifting. The anti-Castro movement is fired up.
Nasralla is a TV personality who considers himself an outsider who can fight corruption. He's a big fan of regional leaders like Nayib Bukele, Javier Milei, and Donald Trump. Asfura is a former mayor who favors private investments and wants to foster relations with the United States and Taiwan and turn Honduras away from China. He also says that the deportation of Honduran migrants from the U.S. back to their homeland is a good thing that can boost the local economy
The question is, as I said, will the elections be free and fair? The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) doesn't seem to think so. The OAS recently released a statement saying that the Honduran elections must be free from pressure or interference from any political actors. Our own State Department is also concerned, and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau released the following statement this week:
The United States shares the concerns expressed by the OAS with respect to the electoral process unfolding in Honduras ahead of the November 30 elections. Our government is closely monitoring the situation, and calls upon all relevant authorities, including the electoral authorities and the military, to adhere scrupulously and faithfully to the laws and Constitution of Honduras. [Donald Trump, Marco Rubio,] and I care deeply about the Western Hemisphere and will respond swiftly and decisively to anyone who undermines the integrity of the democratic process in Honduras.
The United States shares the concerns expressed by the OAS with respect to the electoral process unfolding in Honduras ahead of the November 30 elections. Our government is closely monitoring the situation, and calls upon all relevant authorities, including the electoral… https://t.co/5SmiiNivxB
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) November 12, 2025
Chile
Honduras isn't the only Latin American country set to elect a new president this month. Chile will do the same, and it looks like it's swinging to the right, as well. The current president, 39-year-old socialist Gabriel Boric, is about as popular as the MSNBC primetime lineup. (Does MSNBC even have a primetime lineup anymore?)
The same issues are on the ballot: economic woes, organized crime, etc. Crime and violence seem to be of the utmost concern, however, and many say the problem is illegal immigration. The Economist reports that "Many blame recent immigrants for violent crime and unemployment. Chilean lanzas (pickpockets) lost their jobs to Venezuelan gangs, runs a popular quip."
Jeannette Jara, who served as Boric's Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, is the current Communist candidate leading the way for the left. At first glance, she's also leading the polls, but that's because there are several right-wing candidates who split the remaining vote, like conservative former congressman José Antonio Kast, who is tough on security and illegal immigration, and center-right Evelyn Matthei, who is a bit more socially progressive but still tougher on crime and illegal immigration.
The thing is that after these initial elections on November 16, the top two candidates, no matter who they are, will face a run-off in December, unless one of them reaches at least 50% of the vote, which is highly unlikely. Polls suggest that no matter who the run-off candidates are, the ultimate winner will be a right-winger. All 155 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 23 of the 50 seats in the Senate will also be elected on November 16.
Mexico Finally Built a Wall
Speaking of socialists and narcos, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum finally built a wall, y'all! Unfortunately, it was not at the U.S.-Mexican border but around her own palace instead. As I've been reporting over the last couple of weeks, the number of people living in Mexico who are fed up with cartels and criminals and their last two presidents — who like to use the phrase "hugs not bullets" — is at a high. Much of it was sparked by the murder of popular mayor Carlos Manzo two weeks ago, but there's a movement growing in the country.
On Saturday, there's a huge Generation Z-led protest planned in Mexico City and possibly other parts of the country. Young people are sick of living each day as if escalating violence, impunity, and disappearances are the norm. They want Sheinbaum's government to fix it, and the sentiment is spreading like wildfire across social media.
Instead of listening, Sheinbaum has erected a fence around the National Palace in preparation for the protests. Folks have taken to writing narcoestado or narco-state on it, and they're hanging posters of members of the government who support the cartels.
Here's the fence:
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum is following Trump’s lead
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 12, 2025
She’s building a wall—around Mexico’s presidential palace pic.twitter.com/zVkafBGNrc
Here's how the citizens of Mexico have decorated it:
🇲🇽‼️ | ÚLTIMA HORA — Ciudadanos hartos del narcogobierno de Morena llenaron la valla metálica del Palacio Nacional con cientos de pósters que exhiben a políticos vinculados al crimen organizado junto a la palabra “NARCOESTADO”.
— UHN Plus (@UHN_Plus) November 14, 2025
Mañana se espera una manifestación HISTÓRICA en… pic.twitter.com/EE2ZN59RHY
So why do we care?
Why should the United States care about any of this? Well, if the right-wing candidates in Honduras and Chile win, the Trump administration gains new allies. The United States gains new trading partners and access to important minerals only found in these regions. We also gain national security. We have more help in the war against drug trafficking and organized crime. When our backyard is stable, we're safer and less likely to experience mass migration. And most importantly, we give China the boot.
Something I've run across in a lot of my research this week is that many of these countries' citizens and governments are calling for a harsh crackdown on crime in the way Nayib Bukele has handled El Salvador's issues. That's how fed up these people are with cartels, gangs, and terrorist organizations taking over their communities and governments at every level. I've heard it from the young Mexicans, I've heard it from the people who support the good candidates in Honduras and Chile, and I've heard it from the leaders of various countries.
Many governments, including Bolivia's new president, Rodrigo Paz, have reached out to Bukele to ask for help when solving their own crime and prison crises. Costa Rica is building a new maximum-security prison similar to Bukele's CECOT, and Ecuador just finished one and is moving inmates in as we speak.
Following El Salvador's footsteps, Ecuador has now transferred 300 high level inmates into their new maximum security prison.
— George (@BehizyTweets) November 11, 2025
Latin America is rejecting socialism & liberalism and embracing capitalism and conservatism.
pic.twitter.com/jGEzD55cw8
The only way any of us will ever make a dent in the organized crime that warps the hemisphere is to stand tough against it and join together to fight it. Thankfully, the United States and our allies in the region are doing just that.
In Case You Missed It
Here are some stories from the Western Hemisphere that you may have missed this week:
1. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced operation Southern Spear on Thursday, which he claims "defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere."
2. CNN claimed the U.K. stopped sharing intelligence with the U.S., but Marco Rubio said otherwise.
3. A bridge in China collapsed just months after its completion. I explain how China's shoddy workmanship is plaguing the Western Hemisphere.
4. The Associated Press tried to make us feel bad for the narcos in the boats we're blowing up. Spoiler alert: It failed.
5. The USS Gerald R. Ford entered the Caribbean this week, and boy, is it a beauty.
6. The Trump administration reached trade deals with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador on Thursday, which will lower the prices on some food products, like coffee and fruit.
That's all for me for this week. I'll try to keep y'all updated on the protests in Mexico this weekend if they're worthy, and I'll let you know how the Chilean election turns out on Sunday or Monday. And while Rubio isn't sending me exclusives... yet, I do have many interesting stories from the hemisphere planned for next week, so if you're interested, stay tuned.
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