Proposed U.S. legislation seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in Latin America

Feb 8, 2022 | 18 comments

Two U.S. Senators have introduced bipartisan legislation in Congress to spur closer U.S. security and economic cooperation in Latin America and turn back what they see as the growing influence of China and Russia in the region.

Colombia and Chinese Presidents Iván Duque and Xi Jinping met last year in Beijing to forge new agreements.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the ranking member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez introduced what they dubbed the “Western Hemisphere Security Strategy Act” on Monday.

The bill seeks to counter what the senators, both sons of Cuban immigrants, consider the “harmful and malign influence” in Latin America of China and Russia, arguing that the “destabilizing” influence of authoritarian governments in Beijing and Moscow pose unique risks to U.S. national security interests as well as the region’s welfare.

If approved, the bill would require the Secretaries of State and Defense to jointly submit within 180 days a strategy to enhance diplomatic engagement and security assistance in the Western Hemisphere on issues ranging from drug trafficking to transnational crime. Concrete steps would include increasing military training exercises with partner nations and efforts to improve their capacity to conduct disaster relief operations.

“There is no greater threat in our region than the growing meddling of Russia and China in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Rubio said in a statement.

“It is imperative for the United States to be strategic and proactive in strengthening security partnerships with democracies throughout the Americas,” Menendez added. “This bill recognizes the geopolitical significance of Latin America.”

China in recent years has replaced the U.S. as the main trading partner in many Latin American countries while at the same time financing major investments in infrastructure, including the building out of the region’s cellular network, which the U.S. considers a security risk. Even politically centrist governments in the region, including Ecuador and Colombia, have forged new ties in recent months with Beijing.

Meanwhile, Russia is a major supplier of military support and weapons to leftist Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — the three top U.S. adversaries in the region that generations of U.S. policy makers had referred to as Washington’s backyard.
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Credit: Associated Press

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