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Along the Belt and Road: Breaking the cycle of underdevelopment in Latin America

The following article by Carlos Martinez was commissioned by the Taihe Institute for the January 2022 edition of its monthly magazine, TI Observer. Carlos gives an overview of the history of European and North American subjugation of Latin America, and explores the ways in which the expanding relationship between China and the region is helping to break the cycle of underdevelopment and poverty.

There is an audio version of this article available on the TI Observer podcast.

The last few months have seen a significant expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although this region of the world is not the most obvious fit for an undertaking that was originally modelled on the Silk Road – a network of trade routes linking East Asia with the Middle East, Africa and Europe – the reality is that the countries of South America, Central America and the Caribbean share many of the same needs as their counterparts in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Most Latin American countries won their formal independence from Spanish and Portuguese colonialism in the 19th century, but they found themselves in the shadow of an incipient North American imperialism. The Monroe Doctrine, first articulated by President James Monroe in 1823, denounced European colonialism and interference in the Western Hemisphere, not on the basis of anti-colonial principle but with a view to buttressing US hegemonic designs. Since that time, the US has tended to consider Latin America as its ‘backyard’ – a collection of countries subjected to the control (direct or indirect) of Washington.¹

Eduardo Galeano wrote that the transition from colonialism to neocolonialism made little difference to Latin America’s position within the global capitalist economy. “Everything from the discovery until our times has always been transmuted into European – or later, United States – capital, and as such has accumulated on distant centres of power. Everything: the soil, its fruits and its mineral-rich depths, the people and their capacity to work and to consume, natural resources and human resources.”²

Cuba and China remain good friends, good comrades and good brothers

In this article for CGTN, Cuban ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Carlos Miguel Pereira Hernández details the deep bonds of friendship between the two socialist countries beginning with the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1960 to the announcement that Cuba would join China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2022. Comrade Pereira Hernández notes that concrete solidarity between these two nations in the fields of economy, public health, and diplomacy have already paid, and continue to pay, enormous dividends for humanity.

On September 2, 1960, the Cuban Revolution carried out one of its first acts of sovereignty and independence when its leader, Fidel Castro, in front of more than a million Cubans gathered in the Revolution Square, announced the establishment of official ties with the New China.

This way, Cuba became the first country in the Western Hemisphere to recognize the People’s Republic of China and, consequently, the initiator of diplomatic ties between China and the Latin American and the Caribbean region.

Since then, the high level of political dialogue and the will of our communist parties, governments and peoples to continue strengthening bonds based on equality, respect and reciprocal benefit have characterized the bilateral relations. Both nations have considered themselves as mutual references in the construction of socialism with their own characteristics, which has led to a broad and systematic exchange of experiences.

China is helping Nicaragua build houses for poor people

The following article by Ben Norton, which originally appeared in Multipolarista, details a new agreement by the governments of Nicaragua and China under which China will assist in the construction of thousands of homes for poor and working class families. Since restoring diplomatic ties in December 2021, cooperation between the two countries has been developing at a rapid pace, with China already having sent nearly two million doses of its Covid-19 vaccines to Nicaragua (which has a population of 6.5 million).

The leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua has revealed that it signed an agreement with the People’s Republic of China to build thousands of houses for poor and working families.

Vice President Rosario Murillo announced the news on January 28.

China “has approved an important project of cooperation with our Nicaragua and the Nicaraguan people, a great housing program for families in all of the country,” Murillo said.

“The plan is for three years, benefiting tens of thousands of Nicaraguan families in 84 municipalities of the country, families that are going to receive a beautiful house, safe, dignified, with all of the basic services.”

Argentina’s President Fernández to visit Chairman Mao Memorial Hall while attending Beijing Olympics

The Beijing Winter Olympics will open in a few days and, despite the pathetic attempts of a handful of imperialist countries to instigate a so-called boycott – and the practical difficulties caused by the global pandemic – dozens of heads of state and government and senior officials from governments and international organisations, particularly from the Global South, will descend on the Chinese capital to welcome this festival of sporting excellence, peace and friendship. One such leader will be Argentine President Alberto Fernandez. As Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja explains in this interview with Global Times, that we are pleased to publish below, his President will have a hectic schedule in Beijing, with a highlight being a visit to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. The Ambassador explains that Argentina’s historic nationalist and anti-imperialist leader Juan Peron, to whose political tradition President Fernandez belongs, maintained a friendship and correspondence with Chairman Mao. “It was because of this historical connection that President Fernandez was invited to be one of the foreign leaders to address the ‘CPC and World Political Parties Summit’ last year, when the CPC celebrated its centennial,” the Ambassador remarked.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez will visit Chairman Mao Memorial Hall during his visit to China for the opening ceremony of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Argentine Ambassador to China Sabino Vaca Narvaja told the Global Times in a recent exclusive interview.

“For both Argentina and the rest of the world, Mao is a very crucial state leader,” Narvaja explained.

President Fernandez is also president of Argentina’s Partido Justicialista Party, which has “very important historical ties” with the Communist Party of China (CPC), the ambassador said. “Former Argentine president Juan Peron even maintained friendship and correspondence with Chairman Mao,” said the ambassador. “It was because of this historical connection that President Fernandez was invited to be one of the foreign leaders to address the ‘CPC and World Political Parties Summit’ last year, when the CPC celebrated its centennial.”

Nicaragua along the Belt and Road

This excellent article from Global Times locates this week’s inauguration of Daniel Ortega for a further term as President of Nicaragua, and the increasingly close ties between China and the Central American nation, within the overall context of a resurgence of the left throughout Latin America. This is occurring in the teeth of intense US pressure and hostility and, the article notes, the Latin American left is characterised by a strong opposition to hegemony. The growth of the left in Latin America therefore aligns with global trends and will lead to stronger ties with China as well as Russia.

Swearing in at inauguration ceremony for his new term attended by envoys from China and Russia and reaffirming cooperation with China, Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega is aligning with current global trends as more Latin American nations elect left-leaning governments that will act in their own best interests, despite continuing US attempts to reinforce its influence by using measures mixing sanctions and aid in what it considers its “backyard.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy Cao Jianming attended Ortega’s inauguration ceremony in Managua on Monday, meeting with Ortega prior to the ceremony to exchange views on deepening future cooperation, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Nicaragua is a blow to imperialism

By Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett

On 9 December 2021, Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Denis Moncada announced the resumption of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Nicaragua. This was followed the next day by a meeting in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Laureano Ortega, the representative of the Nicaraguan government and a son of President Daniel Ortega, at which the two countries issued a joint communique announcing the re-establishment of their diplomatic relations.

This development is welcome and inspiring news for all those committed to anti-imperialism and especially for all those who care about the prospects for the development of socialism in Central and South America.

China plays a crucial role supporting progress and sovereignty in Latin America

This article by Carlos Martinez, which first appeared in the Morning Star of 4 December 2021, discusses China’s economic engagement with Latin America in recent decades; debunks claims that this engagement is a form of neocolonialism; and concludes that China’s solidarity with Latin America is an important support for sovereign development in the region.

In the last two decades, economic links between Latin America and the People’s Republic of China have been expanding at a dizzying rate. Bilateral trade in 2000 was just 12 billion USD (1 percent of Latin American’s total trade); now it stands at 315 billion USD. In the same time period, China’s foreign direct investment in Latin America has increased by a factor of five.

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, 19 of the 33 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region have signed up to the China-led global infrastructure development strategy. Infrastructure projects have been a particular focus for Chinese firms. Writing in Foreign Policy in 2018, Max Nathanson observed that “Latin American governments have long lamented their countries’ patchy infrastructure.” China has “stepped in with a solution: roughly $150 billion loaned to Latin American countries since 2005.”

Xi Jinping on China’s friendship with Latin America and the Caribbean

Embedded below is the video (Chinese with Spanish and English subtitles) of President Xi Jinping’s virtual address at the 6th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held in Mexico City on 19 September 2021. Beneath the video is the transcript.

Dear colleagues and friends,

I wish to extend my warm congratulations on the opening of the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. I also wish to take this opportunity to congratulate you, President López, and the Mexican people, on the 200th anniversary of the consummation of Mexico’s independence.

Ten years ago, CELAC came into being in response to Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries’ efforts to pursue independence and strength through unity. This is a milestone in promoting integration in your region.

Chinese and Cuban media report on Xi Jinping phone call with Miguel Diaz-Canel

On August 30, 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. The two sides reaffirmed their strong friendship and support for each other’s path of socialist development. China-Cuba bilateral ties were described has having “become a model for cooperation between developing countries.” We reproduce below two reports of the conversation, one from CGTN and the other from Prensa Latina.

President Xi Jinping reaffirms support for Cuba no matter how the situation changes

CGTN, 30 August 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s support of Cuba no matter how the situation changes during a phone conversation with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday.

In the phone call, Xi hailed the remarkable achievements Cuba made through relentless struggle under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).

Foreign Ministry spokesperson denounces US sanctions against Cuba

At a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on 4 August 2021, the spokesperson was asked for China’s response to the announcement by the US of new sanctions against Cuba. The response demonstrates China’s solidarity with socialist Cuba and its strict adherence to international law and the principles of non-interference, global cooperation.

Q: It is reported that on July 30, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against Cuba’s national revolutionary police and its top two officials, citing repression of anti-government protests. During a meeting with Cuban-American figures at the White House, US President Joe Biden said that there would be more sanctions, “unless there’s some drastic change in Cuba”. In response, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on July 30 that “these arbitrary measures, coupled with disinformation and aggression, are used to justify the inhumane blockade of Cuba”. Separately, 30 ventilators provided by the Chinese government to the Cuban government arrived in Havana on July 31. What is China’s comment?

A: China firmly opposes any move to arbitrarily impose unilateral sanctions and interfere in other countries’ internal affairs under the pretext of so-called “freedom”, “human rights” and “democracy”. The recent US sanctions against Cuban institution and officials severely violate the basic norms governing international relations and once again demonstrate to the world the typical US-style double standard and bullyism. As is known to all, it is the economic, commercial and financial embargo of the US that gravely impedes Cuba’s efforts to improve its economy and people’s livelihood, and tramples on the Cuban people’s right to subsistence and development. We urge the US to heed the universal appeal of the international community, immediately and completely lift the sanctions and embargo against Cuba, and immediately stop making excuses to engage in gross interference and destabilization.

Enough with sanctions! The right way is to support. Recently, China and many other friendly countries and international organizations have extended a helping hand to Cuba, aiding the Cuban government and people to fight the epidemic and improve people’s livelihood, illustrating that true friendship stands the test of adversity. China will continue to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen China-Cuba friendly relations and firmly support Cuba’s efforts to overcome the impact of the epidemic, promote economic development and maintain social stability.

Evo Morales on China-Bolivia cooperation and the nature of Chinese policy

Embedded below is a lovely short video featuring former Bolivian president Evo Morales, leader of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), discussing his thoughts on China, the Belt and Road Initiative, China-Bolivia relations, and his impressions of Xi Jinping. The video, produced by Xinhua, first appeared on Twitter.

Text

The best policy is one that supports social equality, that supports, helps, and invests in improving the social and economic situation of the poorest people. China’s policies aim to help countries, peoples, and social sectors that are often forgotten.
China develops, and helps, invests, without any conditions, just to support our development. China is always ready to cooperate unconditionally.
What I understood is that he (President Xi Jinping) treats us brother to brother, as equals. I never felt that they looked at us from above. That is the difference, even with other countries. Again I want to tell you, a population like China, with more than 1,400 million inhabitants dealing with a nation of little more than 10 million inhabitants, treating them as equals, draws my attention. I feel that it is a cultural fact in humanity.
The Belt and Road Initiative is an impressive initiative proposed by China. Not only the Chinese people, but many people (in the world) are also going to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative. Bolivia’s interoceanic railway project coincides with this Belt and Road plan proposed by China.
I respect, admire, and love the Chinese president, the CPC, and the Chinese people, as they put humanity in their thoughts.

When Che Guevara met Mao Zedong

On the 93rd anniversary of Che Guevara’s birth, we celebrate the friendship between socialist Cuba and socialist China.

A fascinating transcript of their meeting in Beijing in November 1960 can be found here.