National Security Threat: Another Latin American Country Chooses China
by Judith Bergman • March 28, 2023 at 5:00 am
The Biden administration seems adept at launching grand schemes that make it look as if it is doing something about countering China in Latin America, but American leadership seems to be entirely absent.
This absence of US leadership in Latin America has become seriously critical: senior military commanders in the US warn that China's actions in Latin America pose increasing risks to US national security.
"What concerns me as a Combatant Commander is the myriad of ways in which the PRC is spreading its malign influence, wielding its economic might, and conducting gray zone activities to expand its military and political access and influence..." — General Laura Jane Richardson, Commander, US Southern Command, to the House Armed Services Committee, March 8, 2023.
"The PRC is investing in critical infrastructure, including deep-water ports, cyber, and space facilities which can have a potential dual use for malign commercial and military activities. In any potential global conflict, the PRC could leverage strategic regional ports to restrict U.S. naval and commercial ship access. This is a strategic risk that we can't accept or ignore." — General Laura Jane Richardson, March 8, 2023.
Unfortunately, ignoring those risks seems to be exactly what the Biden administration is doing.
What is the point of such [US] programs, however, if they are unable to stop Latin American countries from being forced to turn to China for leadership, or at least having the US try to counter yet another future Chinese takeover in Latin America?
Honduras recently cut ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic ties with China.
Honduras' Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina made it clear that the decision was about "pragmatism, not ideology" and that it was motivated by the country's debt, which totals $20 billion, as well as the need to deal with the country's energy and other needs. Honduras' decision came just weeks after the Honduran government announced that it was negotiating with China to build a hydroelectric dam called Patuca II. China has already invested $298 million in a first dam in eastern Honduras inaugurated in January 2021.
Honduras "had to take that decision," Reina said. "The idea is to look for mechanisms for greater investment [and] commerce."
