The year 2026 has brought sweeping change to Latin America’s relationship with the United States. Following a major military buildup in the Caribbean and strikes against vessels suspected of drug trafficking, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3 — unilaterally deposing the country’s leader and making new oil deals with the post-Maduro government. Washington has also intensified economic and political pressure against Cuba, imposed more tariffs across the region, and said it would not renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, triggering renegotiations. Meanwhile, Washington has deepened security cooperation with several countries, including shifting some funds from other regions to partners in Latin America. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru — highlighting the Trump administration’s interest in shifting its focus toward the Western Hemisphere.Yet, a key player from the Eastern Hemisphere looms over all of this: China. U.S. concerns about competition with China played a major role in USMCA talks and in relations with other regional countries. We asked five experts to assess how several key countries — Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, Peru, and Brazil — are trying to balance relations with Washington and Beijing amidst the Trump administration’s changes in policy toward the region.Read more below.Cecilia Farfán-Méndez Head of the North American Observatory at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized CrimeOn the surface, Mexico has one option: comply with U.S. pressure or suffer the consequences, including possible kinetic action. But in this neighborhood, there is more than meets the eye. Having managed its geographic inevitability for over 200 years, Mexico has developed a practical toolkit for addressing the asymmetry that defines its most important bilateral relationship. Unlike her predecessor, President Claudia Sheinbaum is deploying it.First, Mexico has moved towards decoupling security discussions with the United States from economic and trade issues. Second, it