China makes its presence felt in US backyard with deepening Latin American ties
Kamilia Lahrichi says the surge in trade with Latin America signals its clout
The two-day forum bringing together China and the 33 countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Beijing last week - the first of its kind - ushers in an era of bilateral cooperation in trade, political security and development.
First, China is becoming a juggernaut in the region and is reaping the benefits of the United States' decreasing leverage in its own backyard.
Beijing is deepening South-South cooperation and mutual trust with left-leaning heads of state in Latin America, namely Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, who are increasingly distancing themselves from Washington.
By pledging to boost investment in Latin America by US$250 billion over the next decade, President Xi Jinping is discrediting the US-headquartered Organisation of American States, which originally served as a bulwark against communist penetration in the continent.
In contrast, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is an alternative political bloc established in 2011 in Venezuela.
Emblematic of China's increasing clout, trade in goods with Latin America skyrocketed from more than US$12 billion to about US$275 billion between 2000 and 2013, according to a report by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, published on the first day of the forum.