"Assessing China’s Economic Influence in Latin America" Topic

"…In 2008, China published a White Paper expressing their long-term goals in Latin America. This White Paper highlighted several areas of cooperation to include trade, investment, and financing throughout the region. Over a decade later, China almost built a canal in Nicaragua, negotiated several free trade agreements with countries like Brazil and El Salvador, and funded several infrastructure projects throughout Latin America. Unfortunately, China has successfully used its economic instrument of power to coerce countries and legally advance their global interests against competitors like the United States.

Over the past decade, China has become the largest trading partner to countries like Brazil and El Salvador. However, these trading dependencies have caused countries like Brazil to fall into recessions because of their reliance on China's economy, as seen in 2015[2]. China's approach has increased Latin American countries dependencies with them, which can be a risk to their economies and the region. A good example is China's loans-for-oil deal with Venezuela, which contributed to Venezuela's economic collapse due to falling oil prices and their inability to repay Chinese loans. However, China's trade is not limited to only natural resources; it also includes building infrastructure throughout the region as another means to trap countries into default, holding them hostage to more Chinese coercion…"
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Amicalement
Armand

"loans-for-oil": That's not a deal.

A deal is oil for actual money that you can put into a Cayman Islands bank account. Every kleptocrat knows that.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand