Juan Cruz
Juan Cruz is a Senior Advisor of Dinámica Americas.
Juan retired as a senior U.S. government executive who served in Latin America in various roles, culminating a nearly 35-year government career as President Trump’s Special Assistant for the Western Hemisphere and top National Security Council advisor for the Americas. He served in multiple diplomatic posts, including the U.S. embassies in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. His portfolio covered the national security spectrum and included transnational threats, intelligence, stability, and risk. Since leaving government, Juan has served actively as Senior Advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Americas Program and as a Latin America expert for the Vandenberg Coalition. He also advises business intelligence firms and their clients, multilateral institutions, technology firms, foreign governments, and others engaged in the Americas. Juan is a native Spanish speaker and advanced Portuguese speaker.
Insights by Juan
Jan 13, 2026
Senior Advisor
Juan Cruz was hosted by The Americas Society/Council of the Americas in New York to discuss the updated U.S. National Security Strategy and its implications for the Americas.
Dec 5, 2025
La Republica
Según
Juan Cruz, experto en seguridad nacional, la ofensiva agrícola de Trump ya mueve a Brasil, Ecuador y Guatemala para ocupar espacios que antes tenía Colombia
Dec 3, 2025
Host Seth Jones sits down with
Juan Cruz, who served in the U.S. Intelligence Community and on the National Security Council as special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, to discuss the U.S. military’s role in the Venezuela crisis and provide an inside look at Maduro’s armed forces.
Nov 27, 2025
Donald Trump sorprendió al mundo diciendo que "podría hablar" con Nicolás Maduro para "salvar vidas". ¿Es un giro en la política exterior de EE. UU. o solo una estrategia?
Juan Cruz.
Oct 27, 2025
The Trump administration has overseen one of the largest U.S. Navy buildups in the Caribbean in recent memory. The administration says that this activity is meant to counter the security threats in the region, especially drug trafficking from recently designated foreign terrorist organizations. Some of these activities blur traditional law enforcement and counterterrorism operations, shifting U.S. policy towards a new paradigm.
May 24, 2025
El Observador
Juan Cruz da una entrevista sobre las diferencias entre Trump 1.0 y 2.0, así como el pensamiento y enfoque actual de la Casa Blanca con respecto a China, los aranceles, el comercio y la política migratoria en las Américas.
Jan 27, 2025
Washington Post
Juan Cruz and
Ricardo Zuniga assess the trajectory of U.S. economic policy under the Trump administration, especially U.S. tariff policy
