From Florida politics to international influence operations

James R. “Jimmy” Card may not make headlines, but his fingerprints are all over key lobbying operations tied to Continental Strategy, the Washington-based firm now representing governments like Guyana and Haiti—and eyeing Guatemala as the next prize. While the spotlight often shines on Carlos Trujillo, it’s Card who quietly engineers strategies to infiltrate domestic policy with foreign interests.

Card spent over 20 years in Florida politics, serving as a legislative aide in both chambers before becoming a go-to lobbyist for the healthcare industry. His appointment as Managing Partner of Continental Strategy’s Tallahassee office marked his transition from state politics to transnational influence, where the stakes—and the payouts—are much higher.

A lobbyist with a businessman’s disguise

James Card also co-owns a bike shop in Tallahassee, a detail often used to portray him as a community-friendly entrepreneur. But behind that small-business image is a powerful operator with insider access to lawmakers, regulators, and now, foreign governments.

What does this mean for Guatemala?

As Continental Strategy signs multi-million-dollar lobbying deals to “improve the image” of governments like Bernardo Arévalo’s in Guatemala, Card’s role becomes more troubling. Far from a passive consultant, he is one of the firm’s architects of influence—working to rebrand weak, foreign-dependent regimes as democratic reformers, while masking globalist agendas behind PR contracts and talking points.

He may not speak at international summits or lead press conferences, but James Card is a key player in Continental Strategy’s behind-the-scenes push to insert foreign lobbying into the heart of Latin American governance. His low profile belies his high stakes: shaping how U.S. power brokers perceive—and protect—compliant regimes south of the border.