Aerial view of the new national library of El Salvador offered by China, November 15, 2023 (AFP/Marvin RECINOS)
In the historic heart of San Salvador, a modern library inaugurated with fanfare by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is the latest symbol of China’s growing presence in Central America, with investments mainly in energy and infrastructure.
Accompanied by the Chinese ambassador, Mr. Bukele visited the six floors of the 24,000 m2 building and its digital spaces built thanks to a donation of 54 million dollars from China, according to an official video released on Tuesday. China will also offer a stadium, as it did in Costa Rica, and a pier on the Pacific coast as part of a non-refundable cooperation.
On Wednesday, the son of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Laureano Ortega, boarded one of the 250 Chinese buses delivered to the country, and thanked China for this “special relationship” which, according to him, will help Nicaragua to get out of poverty. In addition to road, airport and energy infrastructure, Laureano Ortega spoke of a plan to develop 5G mobile technology after recently visiting the headquarters of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, accused of espionage by Washington.
“From the left-wing authoritarian regime of Ortega to the right-wing authoritarian regime of Bukele, the new politics of the region has accelerated China’s influence to put distance between the United States and Central America,” said from AFP the American researcher Evan Ellis.
Since Costa Rica severed ties with Taiwan in 2007, China has gained ground in Central America, establishing diplomatic relations with Panama (2017), El Salvador (2018), Nicaragua (2021) and more recently with Honduras (2023).
“China’s efforts in Central America have been motivated by its interest in politically isolating Taiwan (…) and it will continue them to have the support of these governments in international organizations”, explains to AFP Margaret Myers, specialist in Asia and Latin America at the Inter-American Dialogue.
In Central America, only Guatemala and Belize are among the 13 countries in the world that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China considers its territory. “Central America is part of this policy of isolation,” said Salvadoran economist César Villalona.
– Free trade treaties –
By inaugurating the library, Nicaragua on Thursday ratified a free trade treaty, which El Salvador and Honduras are currently negotiating.
But trade is mostly favorable to the Asian giant. In Costa Rica, Chinese imports reach 3.35 billion dollars and exports 400 million; in El Salvador 2.847 billion compared to 48 million, according to official data.
“China is very far away. Our production capacity is low and freight and insurance prices barely compensate for the costs. In Nicaragua, the deficit will widen” with this treaty, estimates Enrique Saenz, Nicaraguan economist exiled to Costa Rica.
While these are micro-markets for China, Central America offers easy access to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Photo from the Presidency of Nicaragua on the delivery of Chinese buses on November 17, 2023 (Nicaraguan Presidency/AFP/Jairo CAJINA)
Panama, geopolitically key thanks to its canal, has involved Chinese companies in the construction of maritime terminals on the interoceanic waterway, of which China is the second largest customer in the world after the United States. And the largest Chinese banks are in the financial center of Panama, former Panamanian Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapié told AFP.
In front of the leaders of several Latin American countries, President Joe Biden warned of the Chinese “debt trap”.
But for Rodolfo Pastor, the minister of the Presidency of Honduras, the relationship with the United States over the last 40 years has not helped the region “exit poverty or initiate development.” “We have to bet on something new.”
The elected president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, who will take office in January, assured that his government “will continue relations with Taiwan”, without excluding exploring links with China.
“No one can deny the importance of China in world trade. It is therefore only a matter of time before the countries that remain attached to Taiwan change their point of view, warns Mr. Hincapié.
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
