<![CDATA[Cartels]]><![CDATA[Chile]]><![CDATA[Colombia]]><![CDATA[Communism]]><![CDATA[Cuba]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]><![CDATA[El Salvador]]><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]><![CDATA[Mexico]]><![CDATA[Venezuela]]>Featured

It’s Officially FAFO Season – PJ Media

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March 20, 2026
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Buckle Up — This Is Where It Gets Real – PJ Media

Welcome to “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 United States. 





You know how politicians or governments often make a big deal about something, and it sounds great at the time, but you never really hear anything about it again? Maybe there’s a half-hearted attempt, but nothing actually changes. 

We all know that our current president is not really like that, but the last couple of weeks in the Western Hemisphere have proven that beyond a doubt. At the Shield of the Americas summit earlier this month, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio promised the like-minded leaders in attendance that if they’re willing to work with us on issues that impact us all, we’ll have their backs and are willing to provide the tools and cooperation necessary to keep our countries and our entire region safe and prosperous. 

When I first wrote about the summit, I joked that it was like Captain America (Trump) was summoning the Avengers. I think that was even more accurate than I realized at the time because for the bad guys in our region — whether they’re cartels or communists — it is officially FAFO (f**k around, find out) season, and Trump and this team of conservative leaders is going hard. 

Here are some examples of where the bad guys are, well, “finding out” this past week.  

Ecuador

With U.S. support, Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, went hard against the cartels in his country this week. He sent 75,000 troops and police officers to four crime-ridden provinces within the country: Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and set up a curfew in those regions so that civilians would not get hurt. He’s breaking up camps and hideouts and making arrests, and that’s expected to continue through the end of the month. 

I’ll try to bring y’all some updates on the results soon, but you can read more about it here: Daniel Noboa Unleashes the Beast, and We’re All Better Off For It.

Costa Rica 

Costa Rica was already a great partner, but it’s really been stepping up over the past couple of weeks since the summit. First, it announced that it was cutting all diplomatic ties with Cuba (Noboa did the same recently). “The hemisphere must be cleansed of communists. It’s that simple,” said President Rodrigo Chaves. 





As we know, Trump and Rubio have put maximum pressure on the Cuban regime, and when Trump mentioned it at the summit, it got one of the biggest rounds of applause. It’s great to see our partners in the region stepping up and adding to that pressure.   

With logistical, financial, and technical backing from the United States, Costa Rica also made its first mass deportation flight this week, sending foreign national criminals, who committed crimes ranging from drug trafficking to sexual abuse of minors, back to their own countries.

Like Ecuador, Costa Rica was once one of the most peaceful countries in the Americas, but it’s seen an increase in crime over the last decade. Most of that is related to cartels from other countries.  President-Elect Laura Fernández is, perhaps, even tougher on crime than Chaves is, and I expect we’ll see a lot more anti-cartel cooperation in the years to come. She’ll take his place in May.   

You can read more about all of that here: ‘The Hemisphere Must Be Cleansed of Communists. It’s that Simple.’

El Salvador 

President Nayib Bukele was already tough on crime before Trump’s second term, so we can’t really attribute his actions to the summit or these new partnerships. That said, Joe Biden was not a Bukele fan, so he just kind of ignored or even condemned what he did to clean up El Salvador. Trump’s support has emboldened him, I’m sure, but he’s also become a model for the entire hemisphere. Many of these new leaders bring him in to consult with him on what to do with gangs and cartels. The people in all of these other countries that are turning right and voting for anti-crime hardliners are all screaming, “We want our own Bukele.”   

That said, the criminals in El Salvador did have a “find out” moment this week, so I’m mentioning it anyway. The Salvadoran Constitution previously put a 60-year cap on keeping criminals in jail. The Salvadoran legislature voted 59 to 1 to amend that rule this week. Murderers, rapists, and terrorists will now face full life sentences instead. Democrats, the MSM, and other leftists are all upset, as you can imagine.  





You can read more about that here: El Salvador Gets Tougher on Crime. The Left Sides With the Criminals.

Venezuela

Even the remaining elements in Venezuela’s narco-regime are “finding out” this week. Agent Delcy Rodríguez — that’s what a lot of the Venezuelan diaspora call her, and it cracks me up every time — made some major military and cabinet shake-ups. She fired one of the key members of the regime and longtime Nicolás Maduro loyalist, “Defense Minister” Vladimir Padrino López. She also got rid of a lot of other top military brass. 

The problem is that she replaced Padrino López with someone who isn’t all that great either, but after listening to several people familiar with the matter and Venezuelan opposition leaders, I assume this was okayed by the Trump administration. And it’s only temporary. We shall see, but it’s a big deal either way.   

I explain it more here: There’s Been a Major Venezuelan Regime Shakeup. But Is It a Good Thing?

Chile 

Last but not least, Chile’s new president, José Antonio Kast, has only been in office a little over a week, and he’s already made some major strides in doing the things he promised his voters he would do. Dealing with crime and securing the Chilean border were a big part of that. He’s currently, among other things, having the military build 10-foot deep trenches to stop mass migration. Kast is super conservative and often called “Chile’s Trump,” so we can expect great things from him in the next few years. 

Admittedly, I have been trying to write more about this all week, but Cuba has behaved like a bratty child who takes all the attention away from the other kids, so I haven’t gotten around to it, but I’ll leave you with some images and video.  





Unfortunately, while a lot of the hemisphere’s bad guys are finding out, a lot of them are… f***ing around too. 

Mexico 

Mexico’s narco-president, Claudia Sheinbaum, loves the Cuban regime so much. She just can’t help herself. Last year, she was its number one oil supplier, until Trump put a stop to that in January. Instead of oil, Sheinbaum began sending humanitarian aid in the form of food and hygiene products, only for the regime to intercept it and sell it in military stores where only U.S. dollars are accepted.  

Well, as of Friday, she has announced that she’s going to figure out a way to send oil to Cuba again. I don’t have much more to add, but with any luck, she’s about to go on the “find out” list.   

Here’s the video. It’s in Spanish, but that’s all I’ve got. 

Colombia 

As soon as Ecuador ramped up its security plan this week, Colombia’s clown of a president, Gustavo Petro, started crying about how it had bombed his country. He claims he found 27 charred bodies, sent troops to the border, and demanded that Trump get involved. Noboa says it’s all a bunch of lies, and this is just Petro getting upset because commies gonna commie. He also says that Petro’s own military debunked it. 

I’ll admit I haven’t followed this as closely as I should this week — again, Cuba takes up a lot of attention lately — but if it escalates, I’ll try to write more about it next week.  





And as for Petro, well, he may be on the verge of “finding out” anyway.  If the New York Times is to be believed, prosecutors in two districts in New York are currently looking into his alleged drug trafficking ties. He’s a “priority target,” they say. Imagine Petro and his narco-buddy, Maduro, reunited in a federal detention center. That’d be something.  

Cuba

We know for a fact that Cuba will be “finding out” soon, as Trump and Rubio have mentioned it maybe 100 times in the last few weeks. We just don’t know when or how. There have been all sorts of rumors going around this week, but various members of Congress and Rubio himself have confirmed they’re not true. 

The regime is backed into a corner, but it doesn’t appear to be bending much yet. The “president,” Miguel Díaz-Canel, even threatened Trump and Rubio to come for him this week. The Castro regime also made a big appeal to Cuban exiles in Miami and elsewhere to come invest in their home country, as some sort of last-ditch effort to save the communist hellhole. Spoiler alert: No one’s buying it. 

With any luck, this man and the Castros will all be on the next episode of “Finding Out” brought to you by Trump and Rubio. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait too much longer.    

Here are some stories from Cuba that you may have missed this week. It’s a lot, but this is history in the making, folks. We’re watching it unfold in real time:   

A Few Other Things: 

Here are a few more stories you may have missed this week: 

1. The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela reopened after seven years: The U.S. Just Made a Move in Venezuela That Hasn’t Happened in Years





2. The Venezuelan baseball team won the World Baseball Classic this week, and it meant so much more than just a sports championship to millions of people: Breaking the Curse of a Nation

3. Here’s a feel-good story out of El Salvador that will inspire you: In Bukele’s El Salvador, It’s Never Too Late to Follow Your Dreams

4. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will be a guest speaker at CERAWeek by S&P Global, a big energy conference in Houston, next week. She’s also been meeting with members of Congress this week. 

5. On Thursday, the State Department lowered the travel advisory for Venezuela to a Level 3. This still means “reconsider travel,” and I don’t recommend packing a suitcase and vacationing there this weekend, but it’s progress. 

6. China is getting a big dose of FAFO. We’re winning! Here’s a good read from one of my favorite journalists, Arturo McFields: China is Furious Over Geopolitical Changes in Latin America 

7. For whatever reason — attention? — Code Pink has left Venezuela and is now in Cuba. Can we trade these people for the Cuban political prisoners?   





As Cuban journalist Mag Jorge Castro said, “The international left is taking some revolutionary vacations in Cuba… they move among the ruins of Havana like on a safari through the jungle singing ‘Guantanamera.’ You’ll see them taking aesthetic photos for their Instagram posts… it’s unbelievable.”   

——

Well, that’s it for me. As I say, Rubio isn’t handing me exclusives… yet, so that’s all I’ve got. Seems like he’s busy hanging out with Trump today, so maybe next week. 

Have a good weekend, folks! Drop me an email (link is in the bio) if there is something you’d like to see more coverage of. I am so, so slow to respond, but I love to hear from you.  


Trump and Rubio have made it clear that combating crime and keeping China out of the Western Hemisphere are their top priorities. The Americas are hot right now, and you won’t find coverage like we offer anywhere else. Please consider supporting us, so we can keep bringing you this important foreign policy news by becoming a PJ Media VIP member. Right now, it’s less than $20 for the entire year, and you get some cool perks too. We can’t wait to have you! 





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