How Latin American Presidents Deal With Trump

In an article about Senator Katie Britt, a New York Times reporter noted something that caught my attention:

She seldom challenges Mr. Trump. When she does, she believes that, to be effective, any outrage must be felt quietly, any response conducted through back-channeled phone calls and peppered with words of admiration for the president.

This is a great way to way to frame oppositional Latin American presidents' response to Donald Trump as well. It was widely reported that Trump took offense to Nicolás Maduro dancing around in response to U.S. threats. So after the Venezuela invasion, Gustavo Petro switched from highly inflammatory to a White House visit where he had Trump sign The Art of the Deal. Claudia Sheinbaum has been similarly careful albeit perhaps less effusive, but manages to get Trump to say positive things about her publicly.

I am sure everyone has noticed that co-dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are very quiet. Nicaragua was not on the list of countries being decertified as not cooperating in anti-narcotics efforts (Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela were) so are less likely to get his attention. So they stay vewy vewy quiet and stay off Trump's radar. 

Miguel Díaz-Canel doesn't exactly go this route but his personality is very un-flamboyant so he greatly resembles it. He'll never visit the White House but he's not in the news much and does not make fiery speeches. But Cuba is Cuba, so he's on the radar no matter what.