Although it won't be streamed or broadcast, across the political spectrum, America's media firmament has been all-consumed with the specter of former President Trump's so-called hush-money trial in New York City, where he is facing 34 felony charges for falsifying business records and engaging in election interference. But Americans aren't the only ones watching this courtroom drama play out; the rest of the world is also paying very close attention not only to the trial itself but to how its outcome may impact the contours of the upcoming presidential contest, and most importantly, American foreign policy in the years ahead.

For America's neighbors to the south in Latin America and the Caribbean, the unpredictability of the U.S. political process is always a source of concern. Newsweek spoke to the former president of Colombia, Iván Duque, to get his thoughts on how leaders in the region are viewing the spectacle of this upcoming presidential cycle.

"There's a lot of interest and anxiety and ... a lot of uncertainty," said Duque, who was in office from 2018-2022, working with both the Trump and Biden administrations. "[Everyone] wants to know how policy with Latin America is going to evolve in the years to come."

For Duque and many other regional leaders, by far the biggest area of concern revolves around how the next American president will deal with the........

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