Alexander Munguía

“The American Dream is the dream of the Americas," declared Bernie Moreno to the assembled at Trump Doral – a sprawling golf resort just outside of Miami. The Ohio Senator was there to collect the "Light of Congress" award, bestowed on him by Florida International University’s Adam Smith Center. "We have a window of opportunity right now to transform the Western Hemisphere into a Hemisphere of total prosperity and security," said Moreno, to an audience which included Dominican President Luis Abinader and FIFA's Gianni Infantino. The room rose for this native son of Colombia. Bernie Moreno was born in Bogotá in 1967 and was five when his family moved to Fort Lauderdale. He went on to build a car dealership empire in Ohio.

Last month, two State Department officials were set to make what they called a routine visit to Brazil, ahead of October’s presidential election. Their stated objective was an assessment of election integrity, religious freedom and freedom of expression in Latin America’s largest democracy. Brazil was not convinced. It slammed the door in their faces and denied their visas.  Washington insists its diplomats were simply sent to ask questions. Brasília cries foreign interference from a nation that has a history of meddling in Latin American politics. Tensions between the two largest democracies in the Americas have not run this high in decades.