Troika of Tyranny Versus the Three Amigos
How Washington can help its new Latin American friends — Argentina, Brazil and Colombia — deal with crumbling dictatorships.
Maduro’s socialist paradise.
Photographer: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images
A recent bit of high-visibility branding by National Security Adviser John Bolton created quite a reaction in Latin America. In a forceful speech delivered to South Florida anti-Castro true believers, he called Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela a “troika of tyranny.” Then he called them a “triangle of terror.” I’m neither a speechwriter nor a marketing guru, but I’m pretty sure sticking to one nickname would have done the job.
In any case, all three of these nations are tyrannies and all three dabble in terrorist activities. But the differences vastly outweigh the similarities, and we need a different approach to each as we work to improve a part of the world that matters deeply to the U.S. Most important: Instead of over-focusing on the troika of tyranny, our energies should go into working with our Three Amigos in South America: Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.