Juan P. Villasmil

Washington, D.C., United States

Staff Writer at The Spectator (World)

@TheSpectator @GSSReview @SecureFreeSoc | @Georgetown SSP | Aspiring foreign policy bro

Articles

Why Washington should make Latin America a priority

1 month ago | thespectator.com | Juan P. Villasmil

As American eyes remain fixed on the Middle East — understandably so — China has been rolling out the red carpet for Latin America, and we have barely noticed. While Xi Jinping welcomes Colombia, one of Washington’s historically reliable allies, into the controversial Belt and Road Initiative, he’s also introducing visa-free entry for South America’s largest economies and greeting regional leaders in Beijing with billion-dollar credit lines and lavish, all-expenses-paid political junkets.
Why Washington should make Latin America a priority

1 month ago | spectator.com.au | Juan P. Villasmil

As American eyes remain fixed on the Middle East — understandably so — China has been rolling out the red carpet for Latin America, and we have barely noticed. While Xi Jinping welcomes Colombia, one of Washington’s historically reliable allies, into the controversial Belt and Road Initiative, he’s also introducing visa-free entry for South America’s largest economies and greeting regional leaders in Beijing with billion-dollar credit lines and lavish, all-expenses-paid political junkets.
In Syria, a Narrow Window for Prudence and Offshore Balancing

1 month ago | theamericanconservative.com | Juan P. Villasmil

Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... President Donald Trump is set to embark on the first international trip of his second term this Tuesday, beginning with a high-profile stop in Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, he is expected to meet not only with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but reportedly with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, and, in a stunning twist of regional fate, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Are the El Salvador Deportations Justifiable?

Mar 21, 2025 | theamericanconservative.com | Juan P. Villasmil

Politics Are the El Salvador Deportations Justifiable? Do unparalleled abuses demand unparalleled solutions? Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele earned thanks from President Donald Trump for receiving 261 deportees from the U.S., including members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua, into his country’s prison system.
The case against admitting Canada to the US

Mar 17, 2025 | thespectator.com | James R. Snell |Jacob Heilbrunn |Daryl McCann |Juan P. Villasmil

Fans of South Park are familiar with the long-running gag involving the show’s portrayal of Canadians as crudely animated, detail-less animated cutouts, perpetually outraged — almost always an overreaction to something America has done.
How Republicans should capitalize on Chuck Schumer’s weakness

Mar 17, 2025 | thespectator.com | Ben Domenech |Matthew Foldi |Juan P. Villasmil |Christopher Caldwell

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s failed fiscal gambit last week proved as obvious as it was predictable. Yet Schumer’s flub has had an outsized impact in prompting open conversation among Democrats about whether they need to move on from the New York Senator.
The problem with putting US nukes in Poland

Mar 15, 2025 | thespectator.com | Michael Evans |Catriona Olding |Craig Raine |Juan P. Villasmil

Nuclear weapons are becoming a major issue for Poland. One way or another, both the Polish president and prime minister want their country to host tactical nuclear weapons as a deterrent against President Putin’s Russia. In the latest — but by no means the first — statement on this issue, President Andrzej Duda revealed that he recently discussed stationing American tactical nuclear weapons in Poland with Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine.
Trump’s war on Europe should not surprise anyone

Mar 15, 2025 | thespectator.com | Robin Ashenden |Catriona Olding |Craig Raine |Juan P. Villasmil

Has there been a more cataclysmic year for US-Europe relations than 2025? It began with JD Vance’s “sermon” to EU leaders at the Munich Security Conference last month, in which he berated Western Europe for its policies on immigration and free speech.
Why Greenland’s election might not have been so bad for Trump

Mar 14, 2025 | thespectator.com | Juan P. Villasmil |Charles Lipson |John MacArthur |Christopher Caldwell

“We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” President Donald Trump told Greenlanders from a joint session of Congress earlier this month. And determine their future they did, as Greenland voted in a parliamentary election Tuesday. The results might not be as bad for Trump as NBC’s headlines imply. That’s the takeaway of Tom Dans, a man Greenlandic media calls Trump’s sande mand — true man — in the island-nation.
Why Greenland’s election might not have been so bad for Trump

Mar 14, 2025 | spectator.com.au | Juan P. Villasmil

“We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” President Donald Trump told Greenlanders from a joint session of Congress earlier this month. And determine their future they did, as Greenland voted in a parliamentary election Tuesday.