The dragon’s embrace in the new world: China’s role in latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The role of the People’s Republic of China in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most important and complex relations taking place today in the international sphere. This is due to a variety of factors such as the number of actors involved as well as their individual interests. That’s why in this Bachelor’s thesis the role of the Asian giant will be analyzed in the fields of geopolitics, economics and soft power. This work also demonstrates how China manages to expand its influence to the “backyard” of its number one adversary, the United States, and in what ways it tries to apply its hegemonic growth. Said interests come with miscellaneous policies such as new trade agreements, infrastructure/cooperation projects and strategies such as the commonly referred “debt trap” and “COVID diplomacy”. Despite being different from other Global South allies, Latin America is looking eastward, as most of its countries have put China ahead.