But after the fall of the Soviet Union, Latin America seemed -- for a time, at least -- to have become a geopolitics-free zone. As China's economy has boomed over the last two decades, its presence in Latin America has grown as well. As the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace observes: "Moscow's approach to Latin America today echoes Soviet outreach in the 1960s through 1980s." Reaching into Latin America is a way of keeping the US off-balance by exerting influence in Washington's "near abroad". Washington is increasingly waking up to the new struggle for advantage in Latin America.

Source: Bangkok Post February 11, 2019 21:33 UTC