US intensifying efforts to counter China’s growing influence in Latin America: Marco Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States is intensifying efforts to counter Chinas expanding influence across Latin America arguing that decades of American neglect allowed Beijing to establish a significant presence in sectors ranging from ports and telecommunications to critical minerals and infrastructureTestifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security Department of State and Related Programs Rubio described Chinas growing footprint in the Western Hemisphere as one of the major strategic challenges facing US foreign policyThe Chinese efforts in the region have done twofold Rubio said as he described Beijings longterm strategy of securing access to natural resources while expanding influence through infrastructure investments According to Rubio China has focused heavily on acquiring access to critical minerals and energy resources across Latin America through longterm agreements and investment projectsThey try to establish for themselves access to critical minerals mining of any sort and gain these longterm contracts he said The Secretary also pointed to Chinese investments in strategic infrastructure including telecommunications networks ports and transportation facilitiesThey come in with infrastructure investments key infrastructure like telecommunications ports Rubio told lawmakersRubio argued that many countries in the region have become increasingly dependent on Chinese financing because alternative sources of investment were often unavailableA country will come to us and say we want to build X or we want to expand Y but the only people showing up are Chinese companies he saidAs a result the administration is seeking to connect governments in the region with American and allied alternatives to Chinesebacked projectsThe challenge that we have is to identify and connect those US alternatives and not US Western allied alternatives to what the Chinese are offering Rubio said The comments came during an exchange with Representative Mario DiazBalart who recently returned from a congressional delegation visit to South America and praised the administrations efforts to reengage the regionRubio acknowledged that successive US administrations had often spoken about prioritising Latin America without consistently following throughAs long as I served in the Senate for 16 years everybody said we need to focus more on the Western Hemisphere he saidNo one ever wants to actually do itThe Secretary highlighted Paraguay as an example of a country that has maintained close ties with the United States and Taiwan despite growing pressure from BeijingHe also cited ongoing cooperation with governments across the region on critical minerals supply chains and economic developmentRubio warned that Chinese financing frequently comes with strategic strings attached including political influence and leverage in international organisationsThey expect your vote at the United Nations and in international forums as leverage he saidThe renewed US focus on Latin America reflects broader efforts to compete with China globally as Beijing expands its economic and diplomatic reachOver the past two decades China has become one of the largest trading partners and investors in several Latin American countries financing major projects in transportation energy mining and telecommunicationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever