China invested for two decades while Washington looked away. Now Uruguay warns Europe to ratify Mercosur or lose South America to Beijing. A hard look at how Washington, Brussels, and China have approached Latin America, and why America needs a real Latin America strategy before it loses the hemisphere for good, before it is too late.
Huawei is untrustworthy — that is what U.S. Ambassador Cabrera told Panama publicly. China erupted. But Panama just suffered cyberattacks on its Social Security system and Commerce Ministry. Huawei's founder is a former Chinese military engineer. Now his company operates near the Panama Canal. This is not business. It is a threat.
China retaliated after losing the Panama Canal terminals legally. Panama's Supreme Court ruled the CK Hutchison concession unconstitutional, handing operations to Maersk and MSC. Beijing responded with port harassment of Panamanian vessels. Secretary Rubio drew a hard line: hemispheric sovereignty is non-negotiable.
