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** Under Biden, U.S. Pushed Further Back in Latin America ([link removed])
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by Judith Bergman • July 6, 2022 at 5:00 am
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oneinstitute.org%2F18641%2Flatin-america-china&pubid=ra-52f7af5809191749&ct=1&title=Under+Biden%2C+U.S.+Pushed+Further+Back+in+Latin+America [link removed]
* China is now Latin America's largest trading partner (excluding Mexico).
* China's relationships with Latin American countries however, are about far more than trade.
* "It is not necessary to show malevolent PRC intentions with respect to its activities in Latin America and the Caribbean to conclude that the current and long-term implications of that engagement are grave for prosperity, democracy, and liberties in the region, as well as the security and strategic position of the United States." — Professor Evan Ellis, US Army War College, "Testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission," May 20, 2021.
* China also has another advantage: No regard for human rights or democracy. It is more than happy to invest in and trade with authoritarian dictatorships like itself.
* "... U.S. influence has been diminishing in the continent." — Martha Bárcena, former Mexican ambassador to the United States, The New York Times, June 9, 2022.
* The odds of Biden's new plan winning over Latin American countries -- where China has already massively invested in building roads, railways, harbors, bridges and a host of other infrastructure and communications projects, with no questions asked on the environment, climate or "inclusivity" -- are probably low. Even Biden administration officials do not seem to harbor any illusions about the new plan's ability to change facts on the ground....
* "As long as China is ready to put its cash on the table, we seem to be fighting a losing battle." — U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Reuters, June 8, 2022.
* "Latin American governments complain that there's a lot of talk but ask 'where is the money'?" — Welber Barral, Brazil-based partner at BMJ Consultores Associados, Reuters, June 8, 2022.
* "The U.S. is losing Latin America to China without putting up a fight, Ecuador's ambassador to Washington told Axios."
* "And China is waiting, saying, 'We're here. We're giving you money.' They want control of course, but they don't say that." — Ivonne Baki, Ecuador's ambassador to the US, Axios, September 23, 2021.

China is now Latin America's largest trading partner (excluding Mexico). China's relationships with the countries in the region, however, are about far more than trade. China's influence in the region has deepened to the point where it has translated into significant leverage. (Image source: iStock)

China has overtaken the United States in trade terms "in large swathes of Latin America," according to a recent Reuters analysis of UN trade data from 2015-2021. Reuters added that "outside of Mexico, the top U.S. trade partner, China has overtaken the United States in Latin America and widened the gap last year."

Although US President Joe Biden pledged to give Latin America higher priority, "current and former officials told Reuters that the United States had been slow to take concrete action and that China, a major buyer of grains and metals, simply offered more to the region in terms of trade and investment."

Biden, while campaigning for the presidency in March 2020, in response to the question of whether China's growing influence in Latin America is a threat to U.S. national security, pledged to restore American leadership to the region, and said:

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