China is good news for Latin America
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The establishment of the Latin American and Caribbean Community (LACC) with 25 members in Mexico on Jan 23 is fresh indication that Latin America is continuing to move away from Washington, because the new organization excludes the United States. With Canada, too, excluded, the LACC is a regional body without "foreigners".
The steady erosion of US power in Latin America is in marked contrast to the increasing influence of China in the region. And China's influence is good news for the region. As former Brazilian prime minister Jos Dirceu says, China will be the determining factor for the development of Latin America.
Latin American leaders have had enough of US imperialism and the condescending approach to the region. This feeling intensified with the realization that the 1990s Washington Consensus was no more than a self-serving US policy, profoundly ineffective in Latin America.
With the Washington Consensus dead and buried, "Beijing Consensus" has captured the imagination of a region desperate to find a trusted partner, and China has emerged as a trusted, moderate and pragmatic one.
In the span of just a few years, China has established diplomatic and economic relations with 21 of the 33 Latin American countries and become a welcome presence in the region. According to the US Pew Global Attitudes Project, China enjoys a positive image in Latin America.
China's diplomatic model, too, is good news for the region. The diplomatic model it prefers to develop - soft power, non-interference and multipolarity - has been praised in Latin American countries. This is a far cry from the traditional US model forced onto Latin America: military intervention, unipolarity and political interference.
China is good news on the economic front as well. It has established a genuine partnership with the region. This again is in sharp contrast with the US, which historically kept Latin America in a subservient position (Latin America was effectively the "backyard" of the US).
