OXON HILL, Md., USA — On a recent evening outside Washington, the president of Argentina had the eyes and ears of a conservative crowd that had gathered to listen to Donald Trump. In a raspy voice, Javier Milei called out, “Hola a todos,” or “Hello, everyone,” before introducing himself as a lion. “What a beautiful day to make the left tremble,” Milei joked.
His
eccentrics may have seemed novel to those in the crowd unfamiliar with how he
has used lions as his brand to symbolize his fierce stance against socialism,
but the far-right populist has become well-known among Latinos in the United
States since winning the presidency last year. He was joined at the
Conservative Political Action Conference by El Salvador’s millennial president,
Nayib Bukele, who delighted the crowd with a speech in fluent English deriding
philanthropist George Soros and “globalism.”
The
Republican Party is aligning with some Latin American populists as a way of
injecting star power and the political landscape of immigrants’ home countries
into this year’s U.S. election. Having made inroads with Cuban and Venezuelan
Americans in South Florida by attacking the self-declared socialist leaders of
those countries, GOP leaders are replicating that model by promoting ties
between Trump and leaders who are well known by Spanish-speaking voters across
the country.
Mercedes
Schlapp, a former Trump White House aide, told Spanish-language newscasters
that Democrats have been nurturing the Latino vote for a long time, but when
Trump was seeking reelection in 2020, he told his strategists to “do whatever
you can to get the Latino vote.” Schlapp said that pursuing the popular elected
leaders to join the recent conservative gathering is part of that effort.
At
nearly 2.5 million people, Salvadorans outnumber Cubans in the U.S., according
to the Pew Hispanic Research Center. The Argentine diaspora is much smaller.
But both Bukele and Milei have grabbed the attention of immigrants from Latin
America as populist counterweights to the leftist strongmen scattered across
Central and South America.
Jose
Aliaga, a Peruvian immigrant who attended CPAC as a Republican leader of a
township in Michigan, compared Bukele after his speech to Trump, who is closing
in on his third GOP nomination and a rematch with Democratic President Joe
Biden.
“Not
only does Bukele say all the right things, he has results to show,” Aliaga
said. “Bukele and Trump have the same message. They want to stop crime, they
want to improve the economy, offer more jobs and give everyone the opportunity
to get ahead.
“They
both want to rule with an iron fist, but one speaks Spanish and the other
speaks English,” he said.
Milei
campaigned with a chainsaw as his prop to campaign on drastic cuts in Argentina
and has declared his admiration for Trump. Milei didn’t bring the chainsaw to
CPAC, but when he saw Trump between their speeches, Milei rushed to Trump
screaming “president!” and gave him a close hug before they posed for pictures.
According to a video posted by one of his aides, Trump told him, “Make
Argentina Great Again,” referencing Milei’s Trump-inspired campaign slogan.
The day
before his visit, Milei met in Buenos Aires with Secretary of State Antony
Blinken and other Biden administration officials. According to one of Milei’s
ministers, U.S. Ambassador Marc Stanley, a Texas lawyer and Democratic donor,
tried to dissuade Milei from appearing alongside Trump, saying CPAC was a “very
political” event.
The
State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for
the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires said, “We make no comments on private
meetings.”
Republican
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Cuban American who has endorsed Trump, traveled
to Argentina’s Casa Rosada last week to meet Milei and asked him to autograph a
mug with the slogan “No hay plata,” for “There is no money,” which Milei used
in campaign to say the country will no longer subsidize public programs.
Eduardo
Verástegui is a conservative activist who rose to fame in the 1990s as a
Mexican telenovela heartthrob and tried to run independently for Mexico’s
presidency. He describes Trump as a friend and was invited in 2020 to advise
him on Hispanic issues.
“Having
them here on an election year is unique. It can awaken the Hispanic community
in the U.S.,” Verástegui said. “I think this could be a turning point.”
Maca
Casado, a spokeswoman for Biden’s campaign, criticized Trump’s plan to appeal
to Latinos, saying his policies as president and proposals as candidates are
anti-immigrant.
“We are
talking about a man who has consistently demonized Latinos for his political
gain, who used his time in office to attack the Latino community, who has even
parroted dictators and said immigrants were poisoning the blood of the
country,” Casado said in a statement. “Our community knows the truth: The party
of Trump doesn’t give a damn about Latinos.”
Benjamin
Gedan, director of the Latin America Program at the Washington-based Wilson
Center, warned that these leaders are “either intentionally antagonizing the
White House or making an easily avoidable diplomatic misstep.”
Bukele
was perhaps even more popular at CPAC, followed by dozens of supporters after
his speech Thursday who were blowing horns and shouting his name.
A
Spanish-language journalist from Voz Media, a conservative outlet based in
Texas, approached Bukele to ask questions about Biden and Trump. Bukele said
the Biden administration “has not been interested in working with us.” He said
the relations between the two countries under Trump were “much better,” but he
stopped short of throwing his support for Trump. “I leave that to the people.”
Bukele
has become massively popular in El Salvador, as a result of his war on gangs
that has led to 76,000 detentions, and among Salvadorans in the U.S., who can
be found in large numbers in California, Texas and New York.
Bukele
made a point in his speech to call out the Clinton administration for deporting
members of a gang that was formed in the U.S. by Salvadorans who had immigrated
escaping the 1979-1992 civil war. That gang was MS-13, which is often
misunderstood as having been founded in El Salvador.
A Bukele
adviser said the leader wanted to come to speak to conservatives to promote his
efforts to turn around El Salvador. Homicide rates have fallen sharply and the
country went from being one of the most violent to one of the safest in the
Americas.
In a
hotel right across the venue where conservatives met, two hotel maids knew
exactly the time Bukele was set to appear and were hoping to catch a glimpse of
the leader, saying their native El Salvador had changed.
When
asked if they were equally excited to see Trump, they smiled and shook their
heads.
***Associated
Press writer Patricia Luna in Santiago, Chile, contributed to this report.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-milei-bukele-latin-america-conservatives-republicans-0215b7fdea225a0ca2cddfbebbd2438a