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Colombia moves to join China based development bank as Latin America reorients geopolitical ties
Colombian President Gustavo Petro concluded his vacation to China this week with a trip in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the president of the New Development Bank read more
Colombia's government has applied to join a China-based development bank, marking another sign of Latin America's shift away from the United States, as the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, trade barriers, and immigration crackdown drive many regional leaders to seek closer ties with Washington's geopolitical rival.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro concluded his vacation to China this week with a trip in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the president of the New Development Bank.
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The international lender was established a decade ago as an initiative of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — the so-called Brics nations of large emerging economies — to fight US-dominated institutions such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.
According to Rousseff, the New Development Bank has authorised financing for 122 infrastructure projects totalling more over $40 billion in categories including transportation, sanitation, and renewable energy.
Petro told reporters in China on Saturday that Colombia has committed to purchase $512 million in bank shares. He stated that he was particularly excited about the prospect of obtaining the New Development Bank's support for a 120-kilometer (75-mile) canal, or railway, connecting Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific Ocean coastlines, which he claimed would place the country at the 'heart' of trade between South America and Asia.
Colombia is the second Latin American country to apply to join the bank, after Uruguay's application in 2021.
But Colombia's traditional role as a staunch U.S. ally and caretaker in the war on drugs is likely to raise eyebrows in Washington. The U.S. State Department this week said that it would 'vigorously oppose' financing of projects linked to China's Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America. Petro signed up to the initiative during a summit with fellow leftist leaders from Brazil and China.
Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, said he wouldn't be dissuaded by U.S. pressure and reaffirmed that Colombia seeks to remain neutral in a new era of geopolitical wrangling.
'We made this decision freely,' Petro told reporters from Shanghai. 'With the United States we can speak face to face, with China too.'
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