Trump's Neglect Accommodates China's Ambitions In Latin America

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Latin America in recent days, in an attempt to regain the region's leaders' affections for the US, and in an attempt to counter China's growing influence in the hemisphere. In unusually blunt remarks, Tillerson denounced China's "imperial" menace and economic "foothold" in the region, effectively lecturing a region that the Trump administration has forgotten to engage since his inauguration. 

China's "footprint", indeed, is already of "significant size and scope, representing $200 billion in annual trade, and tallying $260 billion in loans and foreign direct investment (FDI)" since the turn of the century, AS-COA's Elizabeth González explains in a recent podcast. And while only Panama has signed onto China's "Belt and Road Initiative", Chinese leaders have courted all other members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to support it — Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Latin America is a "natural expansion" of his country's massive infrastructure development plan. 

China's ambitions seem, for now, confined to protecting its investments in the region. But the US' awkward handling of the situation in Latin America — lecturing, rather than re-engaging — may alienate some of its historic allies even further. 

If the US is to effectively counter Chinese influence in Latin America, it needs to come up with a more strategic approach to issues in the region, including for Cuba, Colombia, Central America, Mexico, and Venezuela. Former Southern Command chief James Stavridis offers a few guidelines to the current administration in a recent Bloomberg piece. But it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration actually cares about its position in the hemisphere.