With the United States presidential elections drawing inexorably closer, the Trump administration has now evidently fixed its foreign policy radar unmistakably on the hemisphere, mindful of its understanding of the role that key constituencies can play in determining whether or not he will be favoured with a second term in office.
Two weeks ago Washington’s foreign policy spotlight was fixed on President Trump’s high-profile Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who benefitted from treatment befitting a Head of State wherever he went on his whistle stop tour that took him to countries in the hemisphere that included Guyana, Suriname and Brazil. As it happened, however, attempts to finesse Mr. Pompeo’s jaunt did little to disguise the fact that the bottom line of his otherwise unlikely visit to this part of the world was, in fact, intended to send a message to a chunk of US voters that the Trump administration continues to be steadfast in its determination to evict the Maduro administration from office in Venezuela.