After what happened in Panama and Peru, what seems likely to occur is that the Chinese will slow down investments in Latin America. The BRI will return to its origins: Asia and Africa, where there are actually sovereign governments that want to develop their countries and are very aware of the consequences of colonialism.
I think it would be a strategic mistake, but the reality is that, except for Brazil, Latin America is not a priority area for the Chinese. That doesn’t mean it’s not important, but it’s at the bottom of the list. We are a region that is mostly primary-export oriented. Trade agreements are secured, and if Latin American countries decide to break them, these are products that can be sourced elsewhere.
The idea of inserting ourselves into the global network of economic corridors and boosting development through infrastructure is a whole different level — one that requires sovereign states and planners. Clearly, we are light-years away from that. The United States can interfere and destabilize governments without any problem, and the elites keep repeating that the market regulates itself.
Perhaps in a few decades, when the United States collapses, our governments will think differently, but by then we will have arrived late to the party. As a professor once told me, life is a long list of missed opportunities.
Incredibly, there is no official map of the BRI, but I believe this is the most complete one that shows the magnitude of what I’m talking about — and which, at least in Peru, people don’t understand, with the entire discussion revolving solely around the port.
