CHINA'S INVOLVEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA

 In 2000, China's trade with Latin America amounted to $12 billion. By 2019, the number had grown to a staggering $330 billion.

The astounding growth is suggestive of how China's influence in Latin America has deepened over the past two decades.

China's involvement in Latin America clearly seems to be translating into control, and not just of national resources. "In the past four years, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama have each switched their recognition from Taiwan to China", TIME Magazine wrote in February.