Biden’s plan to revive U.S. relations with Latin American countries: expectations and reality of 2021

Introduction. During the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency, the relations of the United States with the countries of the Latin American region were greatly damaged. The election plan of Joe Biden meant providing assistance to some countries in Central America and assumed a return to the foreign policy strategy of Barack Obama. After the Democratic candidate’s victory in the 2020 presidential race, the expert community of Latin Americanists expected the expansion of Biden’s plan and the formation of a new U.S. foreign policy doctrine regarding Latin America. The purpose of the article is to find out what expectations the experts (scholars, former politicians, representatives of human rights organizations, etc.) had for the reviving of U.S. relations with Latin American countries in 2021 and how these expectations were met. Methods and materials. The research is based on the analysis of the expert community opinion towards the Latin American policy of Biden’s administration and the correlation of this opinion with the actual policy. The author uses methods of discourse analysis and comparative analysis. Analysis. The cancellation of Trump’s migration orders by the new administration was perceived by experts as a positive signal to improve U.S. relations with Latin American countries. However, Biden’s first 100 days showed that the president did not intend to expand the provisions of his election plan. The increasing flows of illegal migrants and local crises emerging in Latin America have forced the expert community to doubt the possibility of Biden’s plan to cope with new challenges.