Latin American Christian Nationalism: Adapting US White Christian Nationalism to Latin American Politics from 2016 to 2023

From 2016 to 2023, Latin American conservative politicians mobilized a new form of religious discourse that resembled the White Christian Nationalism (WCN) rhetoric employed by US President Donald Trump in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, leading to both political victories and significant vote shares in Latin American elections. Using content analysis of political speeches, campaign communications, and policy proposals across Latin American countries, this paper studies how these politicians adapted WCN into a distinct Latin American Christian Nationalism (LCN) by: (i) advancing a historically rooted, divinely sanctioned Latin American “deep story” of what Latin American nations were, (ii) arguing for a “political vision” in which Latin American countries must be governed by laws and leaders protecting their “Christian identity,” (iii) framing their opposition to progressive social policies as the defense of “Christian nations” from “un-Christian foreign interference,” and (iv) allowing them to align their political identities with Trump’s brand.