By Joshua GOODMAN

MIAMI (AP) — Growing up in Miami among Cuban exiles fleeing Fidel Castro’s revolution, Senator Marco Rubio He developed a deep hatred for communism. Now, as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as America’s top diplomat, he is poised to use the same ideological ammunition to reshape US policy in Latin America.

As the first Latino secretary of state, Rubio is expected to pay close attention to what has long been disparagingly referred to as Washington’s backyard.

The top Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a longtime member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has used his knowledge and unique personal relationships to guide U.S. policy in the region for years.

In the decades since the end of the Cold War, Latin America has faded from the US foreign policy agenda, even as US adversaries such as Russia, Iran, and especially China have made profound advances. If confirmed, the Florida Republican would likely end the omission.

But Rubio’s reputation national security hawkTrump’s embrace of his plan to mass deport immigrants and his mastery of polarizing rhetoric will likely alienate even some U.S. allies in the region who are reluctant to abide by the new president’s “America First” foreign policy.

“Typically, Latin American policy is left to junior officers,” said Christopher Sabatini, a research fellow at Chatham House in London. “But Rubio’s reflexes are definitely focused on the zone. “He will pay attention, and governments will have to be more cooperative in their broader relations with the United States if they want to get closer to the United States.”

FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., walks off stage with President Donald Trump after a speech in Miami in which Trump revised his Cuba policy, June 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., appears before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla., on July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) , File)

FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., questions Ambassador Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s Special Representative for Venezuela, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on August 4, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE – U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., greets Venezuelan immigrants near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge in La Parada, near Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

FILE – Then-President Donald Trump, R-Fla., during his campaign rally at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition in Miami on Nov. 6, 2022. He patted Senator Marco Rubio on the shoulder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

FILE – Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, R-Fla. She arrives at Havana Express Cuban Cuisine and Bakery with Marco Rubio during a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex) Brandon, File)

FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., arrives before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Doral, Florida, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Show Title

1 related to 7

FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., walks off stage with President Donald Trump after a speech in Miami in which Trump revised his Cuba policy, June 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

expand

Rubio, through his Senate spokesman, declined to comment on his foreign policy goals.

But his views on Latin America are well known and contrast sharply with the Biden administration’s preference for multilateral diplomacy and dialogue with U.S. critics.

Taking cues from his boss, Rubio’s main focus in the region will likely be Mexico, trade, drug trafficking and immigration. Rubio, once a sponsor of bipartisan reforms providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, transformed himself during Trump’s first administration into a staunch supporter of calls for increased border security and mass deportations.

Rubio has said little about Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office last month. But he was a harsh critic of his predecessor, Andres Manuel López Obrador, who defiantly skipped the 2022 US Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles for a gathering of leftist leaders in Cuba.

Rubio accused López Obrador of capitulating to drug cartels and serving as a “defender of tyranny” in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The Mexican president responded by calling Rubio a “racist.”

Despite the humiliation, the Mexican president was welcomed by President Joe Biden as a “friend” and “partner” at the White House three weeks later.

“This will not happen under Rubio,” Sabatini said. “He keeps a close eye on who follows his own policy preferences.”

Rubio, 53, has long had Trump’s ear in Latin America and has not hesitated to use that access to promote his hard-line agenda. Trump, one of the most outspoken critics of Russia and China’s economic, political and military aid in the region, is expected to punish countries that act close to America’s geopolitical rivals or do not support Israel.

When Trump canceled his first presidential visit to Latin America in 2018, Rubio was there to fill the void, sitting in for meetings and Photo shoots at the Americas Summit in Peru With regional leaders from Argentina, Haiti and other regions.

“There is no one in the U.S. Senate who comes close to his closeness and depth of knowledge of Latin America,” said Carlos Trujillo, Rubio’s close friend and former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States. “Not only does he have personal relationships with dozens of officials, some for decades, but he also vets nearly every U.S. ambassador deployed to the region. “This is a significant advantage.”