July 28 (UPI) -- With more than $14.7 billion invested in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024 and at least $9 billion in new credit lines announced this year, China is solidifying its role as one of the region's leading economic players.
The growth of Chinese investment in Latin America has not only transformed infrastructure, trade and technological presence in the region. but It is also quietly reshaping the foundations of Latin American economic integration, experts and former leaders warned at the "Latin America in the New Global Geopolitics" forum, organized by the Latin American Presidential Mission in Costa Rica.
Evan Ellis, a U.S. research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, said China's presence has created a form of functional but highly fragmented integration.
"China connects the dots that matter to its interests, not the ones our countries need to develop or integrate with one another," he said.
Projects like transoceanic corridors, logistics routes and large-scale port construction are often framed as efforts to boost regional connectivity. In practice, however, many are designed to move raw materials to Asia rather than build a cohesive Latin American market.
