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The Panama Cbad corresponds to the Chinese vision of Latin America as the "natural extension" of the Belt and Road Initiative (Image: Ramon)
After several months of anticipation, the Road Initiative finally includes Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). As speculation gives way to reality, it is the right time to evaluate what we know of the arrival of the IRB and what it can offer to the world. ;Latin America.
Enter Latin America
speech on the belt and road to include LAC, with notable success. Diplomats now see the region as a "natural extension" of the maritime silk route and an "indispensable participant" in building the BIS. This language was used for the first time by President Xi Jinping during his meeting with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri on the sidelines of the 2017 Forum on Belt and Road. It was also included in the Special Declaration on the Belt and the Road. This document was signed at the second China-CELAC Ministerial Forum in January 2018. It presents the BIS as "a new platform for mutually beneficial cooperation" between China and Latin America and states that the first "invites the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean "
In addition to this open invitation to the whole region, China has also begun to formally incorporate the various Latin American and Caribbean countries. Caribbean in the IRB through bilateral cooperation agreements. As of June 2018, four of the approximately 70 signatory countries to these agreements are located in the LAC region.
The first country in Latin America to sign is Panama, which established ties with China last year. It was followed by Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago and, more recently, Bolivia. Although the content of these agreements – just like the proverbial "roads" that would connect LAC with the rest of the IRB – remains unclear, their proliferation among Latin American countries confirms China's desire to expand its market share. gradually integrate the region into its colossal enterprise.
Ironically, the importance of "who is in" and "who is out" of the IRB can be overestimated because China's activities in Latin America have been of the belt and the road in essence, if
The main thrust of the initiative – financing and infrastructure development – has been a pillar of China's approach to Latin America for more than a decade . Since 2005, China has provided about US $ 150 billion to LAC, of which about US $ 27 billion has been spent on infrastructure projects, including a road to Costa Rica, railways in Argentina, and a port in Trinidad and Tobago. and Tobago.
Even beyond state-to-state financing, a large number of other proposed projects, ranging from a port in Peru to a submarine fiber optic cable between China and Chile, echo the connectivity mantra of the IRB. Similarities, it's no wonder that critics claim that many of these projects (and to some extent the IRB itself) are just old wine in new bottles. Indeed, a number of Chinese projects around the world, such as the seventh Bangladesh – China Friendship Bridge that both parties accepted in 2012, have been renamed retroactively to look like Belt and Road 's success.
Latin America is no exception. Take the north-south section of Highway 2000 in Jamaica, which is currently reconditioned as a belt and road project, even though the concession agreement with China Harbor Engineering precedes l & # 39; IRB.
The Panama-Chiriquí Railway, which is currently the subject of a feasibility study, appears to be the only belt and road project in Latin America that has not started before the country's participation in the initiative.
In China
For all of Beijing's claims regarding the potential for transformation of the IRB, there are few signs that the seemingly all-encompbading initiative is registered in the region beyond 39, a small sector of elites and Chinese specialists. For these elites, the IRB offers the opportunity to develop their country's infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure, in the hope of obtaining long-term benefits in the future. areas ranging from trade to public health.
an easy sale because it promises a lot and requires little. Even if no substantial increase in infrastructure funding were to materialize, the Chinese state's support for this initiative could itself prompt other Chinese actors to engage with the belt countries. and the road. This is probably a convincing reason for the Latin American countries to adhere to it.
However, as the belt and road are making their way through the region, Latin American leaders and decision makers would do well to consider the eye initiative. For starters, the socio-economic success of individual Belt and Road projects, like that of any business, is not guaranteed. A growing chorus of voices draws attention to the fact that projects are free to go wrong and not perform once the chords are inked and the cameras are tidy. That was the case before the belt and the road, and that is still the case now. In Latin America in particular, the Tinaco-Anaco Aboriginal Railway in Venezuela is emblematic of the speed and toughness of a project.
Moreover, even if the transactions were to proceed as planned, the success of the initiative is not without drawbacks. The focus on connectivity, for example, does not challenge the centrality of extractive industries and commodities to Sino-Latin American trade relations.
Increased connectivity could also exacerbate already asymmetrical relations between the relatively small Latin American countries. exporters, and China – a mbadive importer of commodities. This does not mean fears about China's desire to control every phase of the supply chain, and its growing profile in critical areas of the region, including energy. Environmental concerns – a constant source of concern about Chinese engineering projects in Latin America – and the rights of local communities (especially indigenous peoples) also remain.
China paved the way for Latin America 's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. What is exactly beyond the door remains to be seen.
This article is republished from Diálogo Chino
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