The growing alliance between conservative Republicans and the Latin American right is on full display at CPAC

Presidents Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and Javier Milei of Argentina will take the stage this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the most prominent gatherings of conservatives, underscoring the growing alliance between right-leaning Latin American leaders and the Republican Party.

While some Republicans view the bond as a way to shore up votes for the November election, Latin American leaders see it as a strategic way to strengthen their relationship with potential future leaders of the U.S. and influence foreign policy.

“They are trying to make sure they have a good relationship with somebody who could be the next president,” said Eduardo Gamarra, a Florida International University political science professor and a Democrat. “But it’s a double-edged sword because they could ostensibly be latching themselves on to somebody who could lose.”

“Why are Republicans interested? These are very popular Latin American politicians today,” Gamarra said.

The idea of a regional gathering of like-minded political leaders is not new. For decades, left-wing political parties and activists in Latin America have gathered for a conference known as the Foro de São Paulo. They had success in the early 2000s, with a pink tide where leftist presidents were elected in Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Argentina.

Gamarra said that though Democrats never took part in the Foro de São Paulo, many on the right accuse President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama of being "useful tools" of the Foro de São Paulo and that negotiating with leftist governments, like Cuba or Venezuela, is part of Democrats' "naiveté."

With CPAC, “the right has grown in the context of what they have always said that the