Trump's fingerprints seen on Latin America's rightward shift while Brazil throws up roadblock

President Donald Trump's political influence is reaching far beyond America's borders as several Latin American countries shift toward right-leaning leadership, though that momentum hit a roadblock Sunday when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated conservative challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in the country's presidential runoff. For Argentina-born Trump rally attendee Marcelo Sandrin, who has lived in the U.S. for roughly three decades, the shift is unmistakable — and Trump deserves substantial credit. Speaking to Fox News Digital outside the T. Ed Garrison Arena near Clemson before Brazil's election results were known, Sandrin pointed to Argentine President Javier Milei and the possibility of another conservative victory in Brazil as evidence of what he sees as Trump's growing influence. Lula's subsequent victory complicated that outlook, even as the Trump administration has asserted U.S. power more directly across the region, most dramatically through the capture of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro. "[Trump deserves] a lot of credit," Sandrin told Fox News Digital, adding that Milei is a very forceful libertarian, right-wing/small-government figure, and that during the Trump era, South America has moved "more and more to the right." CONSERVATIVE WAVE HITS ROADBLOCK IN BRAZIL AS LULA HOLDS OFF BOLSONARO CHALLENGE In Argentina, Milei has emerged as one of Trump's most prominent ideological allies in the hemisphere, pursuing sweeping economic reforms and challenging the left-wing political establishment that dominated much of the country's recent history. "Brazil is almost going to be [moving] to the right again. It's only Mexico and Uruguay for now [on the left]. The problem in my country is one side or the other, they have to steal, stop stealing. That's the number one thing." Brazil instead delivered a setback to the region's conservative momentum, with Lula winning 51.8% of the vote to Bolsonaro's 48.2%, according to the country's electoral court. The result secured Lula a fourth, nonconsecutive presidential term and demonstrated that the rightward shift Sandrin described has not extended uniformly across Latin America. The Trump administration's impact on the region has also extended beyond electoral politics. Venezuela underwent a dramatic change following the U.S. capture of longtime socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, an operation that Venezuela native and Manhattan Institute researcher Santiago Vidal Calvo argued reinforced Washington's influence across the hemisphere and weakened the political order Maduro represented. COAST GUARD FIREFIGHT PUTS US, MEXICO AT ODDS DESPITE COORDINATED BORDER OPERATIONS "I have no doubt that President Trump has had a good, influential policy towards making governments more right-leaning in Latin America," Calvo said. "I think that got exacerbated with the capture of Maduro," he added. "A lot of people saw that the United States was again an influential force in the continent, that China was being kicked out in many fronts." Calvo argued that Trump, Milei and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have helped inspire right-leaning movements across the region, with implications extending beyond elections to immigration, trade, Chinese influence and national security. He also pointed to China, arguing that Beijing expanded its influence in Latin America through loan agreements that differ from conventional North American banking transactions and can give it leverage in countries' domestic affairs. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER The regional shift is far from uniform. Mexico remains governed by the left-wing Morena movement, while Uruguay also remains under left-wing leadership. Lula's reelection in Brazil adds another major counterpoint to the conservative gains elsewhere in the hemisphere, underscoring the limits of a regionwide political realignment. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP Calvo also singled out Secretary of State Marco Rubio for praise, arguing that the administration's Latin America strategy has been an underappreciated foreign-policy achievement. "I think one of the highlights of this Trump administration has been a good example of foreign policy in Latin America, especially at the hand of [Marco] Rubio," Calvo told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital's Reagan Schroeder contributed to this report.