The Atlantic Triangle in the era of China’s rising power in Latin America

This chapter focuses on the relations that the European Union (EU), United States (US) and China have developed with the continent of Latin America in the post-Cold War period. It looks at the evolution of each of them, the various different influences they have and their impact on Latin American stakeholders. US policy on Latin America was for a long time governed by the Monroe Doctrine, based on the mantra of ‘America for the Americans’. This explains why for decades Washington had considered Latin America (LA) as its own back- yard. Hence the US had a policy that allowed the country to exercise an almost discretionary authority over the continent for most of the 20th century. Starting in the 1980s, the EU and its Member States took initiatives enabling them to project themselves into the sphere of influence traditionally dominated by the USA. They began to play a role there and to develop their presence there. From the 1990s onwards, this resulted in the establishment of an interregional association between the EU and LA based on institutional and multidimensional relations – which they were quick to describe as ‘strategic’� The EU rolled out a strategy that was aimed, for instance, at supporting regional organisations in LA to develop regional group-to-group relations. This strategy was intended to en- able the EU to increase its international visibility and recognition, to consolidate its economic and commercial interests and thus to build and establish its role as an actor on the Latin American scene in the face of US power there. US authorities were aware of this growing European presence in their hemi- sphere, and developed initiatives in response. Fearing that its companies would lose markets in a context of increased globalisation, the US rethought its strategy towards the continent. The aim was to enhance US trade alliances and to further diversify the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with LA states.
There emerged what could be called a triangular game in the Atlantic area, where the actors’ strategies influenced each other. However, over the past 20 years, the world’s pace has accelerated, power has become more diffuse and new powers are emerging and making their presence felt on the international stage. This has only served to increase global competition. Latin America has watched this new expansion and this increased interna- tional rivalry stemming from the new and extra-regional actors taking root on the ground in LA. China is the biggest of these actors, which raises the ques- tion as to whether its deployment will likely induce the traditional (the EU and USA) regional actors in the Atlantic Triangle to adapt their own behaviour and strategies. Are China’s presence and its appeal to LA transforming the Atlantic Triangle into a strategic space with a quadrilateral rivalry?