Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, who works closely with the
U.S. countering crime and illegal immigration; and Javier Milei of Argentina, the shaggy-haired, rock music-
loving economist who in 2023 became the world’s first elected libertarian president, and has rolled back both inflation and the size of government. Colombia, which like Chile elected a leftist president in
2022 and where a conservative presidential hopeful was assassinated last year, will choose a new leader this month.
TRUMP FACTOR It is no surprise that virtually all the new presidents and leading presidential candidates in Latin America voice affection and admiration for Trump, “the man up North.” “Many of us throughout Latin America are watching
the U.S. president closely,” former Bolivian President Jeanine Anez told Newsmax as she watched Kast’s inau- guration.
“Without his leadership, Venezuela might not have
had this opportunity [to have a freely elected govern- ment], and we would not be so upward about what is now happening in Cuba.” Sitting nearby was Maria Corina Machado, a Nobel Prize winner and longtime foe of
Nicolas Maduro. Anez and others Newsmax spoke with are hopeful Machado becomes president as soon as pos- sible, and that acting president and Maduro ally Delcy Rodriguez and her fellow “Maduro minions” are gone from power. Days before Kast’s inauguration, Trump hosted a
dozen Latin heads of state in Doral, Florida. Christened the Shield of the Americas, the summit was the begin- ning of a multinational military coalition to share intelli- gence and combat drug cartels and other criminal outlets throughout the hemisphere. Some have criticized Trump’s Florida summit for
including only recently elected, right-of-center Latin American leaders. Absent were the left-leaning leaders of Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, home to more than half of the region’s population. This does not concern leaders like Anez. “People here realize that socialism brings poverty, destruction, and it divides families. So, a democratic bloc that defends freedom would be very positive for those of us who believe in democracy.” Even before he was elected president of Honduras,
Asfura had weighed in strongly for Trump. He told Newsmax in August: “At the end of the day, Trump is
JAVIER MILEI, Argentina Wild Bull of Pampas
B
y far the most colorful of the new Latin American presidents, unabashed libertarian and economist Javier Milei, 55, shut down 11 of 18 Cabinet ministries and fired 70,000 public employees. Milei has overseen surpluses in
his three budgets since taking ofice in 2023, and now faces the prospect of retiring his country’s $450 billion national debt. He is notable for never combing his
hair, and hugging and kissing almost everyone he meets.
DANIEL NOBOA, Ecuador Young Man in Hurry
A
t 38, a Northwestern University graduate and head of an
entertainment company, Daniel Noboa is the second youngest president in Ecuadorian history, and the youngest elected on his own. Although the economy consumes much of his time, Noboa has vowed to work with President Donald Trump on stopping illegal immigration from his country into the U.S. Trump, in turn, has publicly hailed Noboa as a “great leader.”
JOSE ANTONIO KAST, Chile Gentleman President
J
ose Antonio Kast’s landslide election in 2025 was stunning. Twice beaten
for his country’s top ofice, he came back to finally win on a platform of law and order and expansion of the free market. Kast will not condemn the military
coup that overthrew Chile’s Marxist President Salvador Allende in 1973, and instead praises them for bringing market economics to the country with the help of the “Chicago boys”— economists from the University of Chicago.
MAY 2026 | NEWSMAX 55
MILEI/COFFRINI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES / NOBOA/SEBASTIÁN VIVALLO OÑATE/AGENCIA MAKRO/GETTY IMAGES / KAST/AVIER TORRES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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