Reimagining U.S. Engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean in Response to a Risen China

Abstract

Although still based on the commodities trade, China’s relations with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have grown increasingly complex over the past two decades, as demonstrated by the changing trends in investment and finance to the resource-rich region. There, Chinese entities continue to be active in key sectors, including extractives and agriculture, which make China a major economic partner to many of the region’s largest economies, including Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. In comparison with the past, between 2017–2020, the region also played a larger role in China’s foreign policy, which has come to include the region more frequently in its programs, such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In comparison to much of Asia, where the hardline stance adopted by the administration of Donald J. Trump was received favorably by countries which look toward Washington as a security partner, LAC countries broadly rejected the administration’s antagonism toward Beijing. This was on the one hand a consequence of the administration’s heavy-handed approach to LAC, which only exacerbated Washington’s long-term neglect of the region, and on the other hand the result of China’s already significant presence in many of its countries.