Trump's fingerprints seen on Latin America's rightward shift as Brazil becomes next test

By Fox News · Fox News

President Donald Trump's political influence is reaching far beyond America's borders as several Latin American countries shift toward right-leaning leadership, with Brazil emerging as the next major test of the region's changing political direction. For Argentina-born Trump rally attendee Marcelo Sandrin, who has lived in the U.S. for roughly three decades, the shift is unmistakable — and Trump deserves substantial credit. Speaking to Fox News Digital outside the T. Ed Garrison Arena near Clemson, Sandrin pointed to Argentine President Javier Milei and the prospect of another rightward shift in Brazil as signs of what he sees as Trump's growing influence. The trend comes as the Trump administration has also asserted U.S. power more directly in the region, most dramatically through the capture of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro. "[Trump deserves] a lot of credit," Sandrin told Fox News Digital, adding Milei is a very forceful libertarian, right-wing/small-government figure, and that during the Trump era, South America has moved "more and more to the right." LATIN AMERICA’S CONSERVATIVE SHIFT FACES ITS BIGGEST TEST YET IN BRAZIL ELECTION In Argentina, Milei has emerged as one of Trump's most prominent ideological allies in the hemisphere, pursuing sweeping economic reforms and challenging the left-wing political establishment that dominated much of the country's recent history. "Brazil is almost going to be [moving] to the right again. It's only Mexico and Uruguay for now [on the left]. The problem in my country is one side or the other, they have to steal, stop stealing. That's the number one thing." Brazil could provide another test of the region's political direction, with allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro seeking to return the country to right-wing leadership. The country's political future remains contested, however, underscoring the limits of describing Latin America's political trajectory as a uniform rightward turn. The Trump administratio…