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Which politician is proving to be the most successful in relation to the US President's administration, how are contracts with lobbying companies being extended, and how much is paid for an entrance to the Oval Office?
US government records reveal that millions of dollars are being spent hiring Washington's most prominent lobbyists to push for a full list of demands to be heard by the Trump administration, according to an analysis by the Guardian and the Quincy Institute.
The most extensive lobbying is being done by the leaders of Latin American countries.
But among the names of those lobbying are the Democratic Party of Albania, led by Sali Berisha, who has a two-year contract worth $6 million, one of the highest figures based on lobbying contracts.
Mainly, Latin American leaders are lobbying for free trade agreements, security assistance, and energy investments, while the DP is lobbying to create access and connections with the new US administration.
Since before Donald Trump's election as president in November 2024, Justice Department records show that at least 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have registered their senior officials and envoys as foreign leaders under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Fara aims to promote transparency by requiring those working as foreign agents to disclose their activities and compensation.
“Under Trump, we’ve seen a more direct, transactional approach to influencing government,” said Jake Johnston, director of international policy at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (Cepr). He added that “the very personal relationships that have developed with the far right in Latin America have given them direct access to the White House. I wouldn’t say this exercise in influence is unprecedented, but the magnitude is.”
El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, has arguably seen the biggest return on his three-year, $1.5 million lobbying spree. Since February, Bukele has secured an Oval Office meeting with Trump, a nuclear energy deal, U.S. guarantees to help expand his country's notorious mega-prison, and an upgraded travel security rating from the State Department.
A lucrative contract with the Mercury public affairs agency may have helped Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa secure his long-awaited photo op with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, win support for increased arms shipments to address a deteriorating security situation and garner a positive U.S. intelligence assessment of his candidacy just days before he won a presidential runoff marred by irregularities.
Argentina's Javier Milei has taken a somewhat different path to becoming Trump's "favorite president," spending tens of thousands of dollars to dine with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and appearing alongside Elon Musk at the conservative CPAC conference in Washington in February, easing the way for a $20 billion deal with the IMF, backed by the U.S., and a visit to Buenos Aires by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as he awaits an Oval Office visit and a trade deal coming soon.
From Panama to Guyana, from Honduras to Haiti, from the Dominican Republic to Colombia (and also from the Venezuelan opposition), leaders across the hemisphere are playing Trump's unique transactional game to secure support for controversial policies, position themselves electorally, and win the favor of lawmakers and senior officials who will steer policy for the next four years toward their often overlooked countries.
Chief among these efforts is Argentine-American Damian Merlo of the Miami-based Latin American advisory group, who renewed his $75,000-a-month contract with Bukele for another year, having previously lobbied for then-Argentine candidate Milei.
After winning Argentina’s election in December 2023, Milei fired Merlo, a veteran Republican insider, to smooth things over with the Biden administration. Since then, Milei’s contact with Trump’s world has only grown, facilitated by American and Argentine operatives at Tactic Global, a consulting firm that helped organize the CPAC Argentina conference last December and recently hosted Paraguayan President Santiago Peña and Ecuador’s ambassador to the U.S. at a reception in Los Angeles with senior Trump officials.
Merlo, a fixture in Trump circles who stood behind Bukele in the Oval Office along with members of the president's "shadow cabinet," previously worked for 5 years as vice president of the lobbying firm run by Otto Reich, a longtime Republican official focused on Latin America.
Reich, a Cuban-American, introduced another Cuban-American lobbyist, Mauricio Claver-Carone, to Trump's then-national security adviser, John Bolton, who brought the latter to the position as the top official for Latin American policy on the National Security Council in 2018.
Claver-Carone, që për më shumë se një dekadë, nëpërmjet komitetit të veprimit politik për demokracinë SHBA-Kubë, ndihmoi në kanalizimin e miliona dollarëve për ligjvënësit në të dyja anët e altarit për të bllokuar thirrjet në rritje për angazhim me Kubën, tani është e dërguara speciale e Trump në Amerikën Latine, duke punuar krah për krah me aleatin e tij të hershëm , sekretarin e shtetit, Marco Rubio.
Pas Rubios në seancën e konfirmimit të tij në Senat në janar ishte ulur një tjetër lobist i Amerikës Latine i lidhur me Trump , ambasadori kubano-amerikan në pension Carlos Trujillo, i cili përflitet gjerësisht se ishte emëruar për një post të nivelit të lartë në administratën e re.
Trujillo, i cili shërbeu si ambasador i Trump në Organizatën e Shteteve Amerikane (OAS) me seli në Uashington dhe më vonë u nominua, por nuk u konfirmua, si ndihmës sekretar shteti për çështjet e hemisferës perëndimore, kohët e fundit ka marrë si klientë të tij kombet e Karaibeve të Haitit, Gujanës dhe Republikës Dominikane në Continental Strategy LLC, gjë që përkon me udhëtimet e Rubios në rajon.
Firma e Trujillo-s, e cila fitoi 3.6 milionë dollarë në tremujorin e parë të vitit 2025 dhe shtoi 50 klientë të rinj që nga fitorja e Trump, ka punësuar gjithashtu vajzën e shefes së stafit të Shtëpisë së Bardhë, Susie Wiles, Katie, dhe ish-shefin e stafit të Rubios në Senat, Alberto Martinez.
Continental thuhet se ishte çelësi për ndërmjetësimin e marrëveshjes prej 23 miliardë dollarësh për një konsorcium të udhëhequr nga BlackRock, që përfshinte klientin e saj, Mediterranean Shipping Company, për të marrë kontrollin nga Kina të porteve strategjike në Panama dhe në të gjithë globin, të cilën Trump e përshëndeti si një hap drejt “rimarrjes” së kanalit të Panamasë, një përparësi kryesore për administratën e tij.
Qeveria e Panamasë, ashtu si ajo e Kolumbisë dhe Hondurasit, ka mbajtur një grup lobistësh më të përzier ideologjikisht për të ruajtur mbështetjen historikisht dypartiake në Kongres për objektivat e tyre të politikës së jashtme, duke përfshirë kufizimin e pranisë ushtarake amerikane në Zonën e Kanalit të Panamasë, ruajtjen e preferencave tregtare për eksportet kolumbiane dhe forcimin e bashkëpunimit SHBA-Honduras për imigracionin dhe sigurinë.
Për këto qëllime, Panamaja punësoi strategun demokrat Manuel Ortiz, së bashku me aleatin e hershëm të Trump , David Urban, në janar si pjesë e një marrëveshjeje prej 2.5 milionë dollarësh me BGR Group, ndërsa një muaj para zgjedhjes së Trump, Kolumbia zgjati një marrëveshje prej 60,000 dollarësh në muaj me Squire, Patton dhe Boggs, duke punësuar një ish-zyrtar tregtar të administratës Obama (i cili është larguar që atëherë ) dhe zëvendësshefin e stafit të ish-kryetarit të Dhomës së Përfaqësuesve republikane, John Boehner.
Honduras, for its part, extended a $90,000-a-month contract with the former U.S. ambassador to the country, Hugo Llorens, along with a State Department veteran who worked in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, Tom Shannon, as part of a deal with lobbying giant Arnold and Porter.
Latin America is by no means the region of the world whose leaders spend the most time lobbying American officials, nor is it unusual under a new American administration, Democratic or Republican, for foreign governments to seek access to newly appointed political appointees and elected lawmakers.
Yet for a region that analysts say will take precedence under the current administration — but which has historically spent little to ensure that happens — Latin America is increasing its lobbying to secure its seat at the table, in turn becoming a prominent player in Washington's vast network of foreign influence.
“Given Florida’s overall involvement in this administration, specifically in foreign policy, and the state’s centrality in Latin American politics, this combines to create greater importance and attention for the region than we have seen before,” Johnston said.
“Now that some of these people are in government or have direct access to government, Latin American leaders will surely find more fertile ground to pursue their interests.” / Adapt Pamphlet/
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