The United States launches a financial offensive to block international funding for Chinese projects in Latin America, responding to growing cooperation between countries like Colombia and China under the Belt and Road Initiative.

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The U.S. administration, led by Donald Trump, has issued a direct threat to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other international financial institutions, urging them not to grant subsidies to projects developed by Chinese companies in Latin America. This move comes immediately after Colombia and China signed a strategic plan to strengthen the Belt and Road Initiative, a program aimed at boosting integration and economic development in the region.

Washington’s warning is not limited to Colombia but extends across Latin America and the Caribbean, where the Belt and Road Initiative has projects underway. The U.S. Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs declared that American taxpayers’ funds must not be used to subsidize Chinese companies, arguing that these projects “endanger regional security.”

This stance reflects an attempt to curb China’s growing economic and strategic influence in the hemisphere, at a time when Latin American countries seek to diversify their alliances and sources of investment.

Latin America’s Response and Challenge to U.S. Hegemony

Progressive governments such as Gustavo Petro’s in Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s in Brazil have committed to strengthening ties with China, securing multi-billion-dollar agreements for infrastructure and trade that challenge the historic economic and political domination of the United States in the region.

For example, Colombia secured $5.2 billion for its metro system, and Brazil finalized $94 billion in key sector agreements. However, these advances face threats of sanctions, audits, and U.S. commercial pressures aimed at preserving its hegemony and preventing the formation of an autonomous, multipolar Latin American bloc.

The U.S. will strongly oppose recent projects and upcoming disbursements by the @the_IDB and other IFIs for Chinese state-owned and controlled companies in Colombia (and other BRI countries in the region). These projects endanger the region's safety and security. American tax…

— Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (@WHAAsstSecty) May 15, 2025

The U.S. offensive fits within a containment strategy that revives the Monroe Doctrine in a modern key, using financial and commercial tools to limit the sovereign development of Latin American countries. Latin America’s dependence on U.S. markets and technologies, alongside fears of “debt traps” and covert militarization of Chinese infrastructure, are elements Washington uses to justify its intervention.

However, this policy disregards the legitimate aspirations of Latin American peoples for independent and solidarity-based development rooted in South-South cooperation and regional integration.

This context highlights the geopolitical struggle Latin America faces between maintaining sovereignty and development autonomy in the face of U.S. pressure aimed at blocking strategic Chinese projects that could transform the continent’s economic and political landscape.

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