"Speak softly and carry a big stick." That was US President Theodore Roosevelt's adage to stake out Washington's turf in the Americas. More than a century on, it's being evoked by some after an upset win in Argentina's midterm elections by a close ally of the current occupant of the White House. Only Donald Trump didn't speak softly. He bluntly warned that rejection of the party of far-right libertarian Javier Milei would imperil Washington's $20 billion lifeline for a peso that's teetering.

We ask about Javier Milei's victory, his bid to dismantle the state spending system of his predecessors, whether this result is enough to save a currency that's somehow never very far from its next crisis, and whether Washington owns what happens next in Argentina, Latin America's third-largest economy.

On that score, what lessons can be drawn for regional rivals Brazil and Colombia, where a left-wing leader finds himself cut off from US aid and with US navy ships blowing up alleged drug trafficking vessels off his shores?

Produced by François Picard, Charles Wente, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon & Jean-Vincent Russo