To consolidate its partnership with China, Nicaragua on Thursday, December 9 broke off diplomatic relations with its main economic ally, Taiwan. This political change illustrates the growing influence of Beijing in this strategic space.
At the initiative of its leader, Daniel Ortega, “Nicaragua broke off its relations with Taipei on December 9th, to renew them with China after thirty-one years”, notes the Latin American site Infobae, recognizing a “The only legitimate government for all of China”, and the island like “An inalienable part of Chinese territory”. The dramatic announcement ends the historic partnership between the Sandinista government and Taiwan, its main funder and business ally. It testifies to the growing power of Chinese influence in this strategic area.
And “Nicaragua in itself is not a big trading partner for China”, analyzes the economist Marco Aurelio Peña quoted by the Nicaraguan opposition daily The Press, “The region is one, in other words Central America”. China is indeed interested very closely in the Central American isthmus, the junction point between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, which offers privileged access to the east coast of the United States as well as to the African and European markets.
Since the 2000s, Chinese investments have multiplied throughout Latin America, starting with mining, rail and hydroelectric projects, notes the Nicaraguan pro-government site The 19 Digital. the “Chinese dragon” has every intention of gaining ground in what has long been America’s backyard and displays the will to build “A community of the future shared between China and Latin America”, a region “crucial” for the development of a “New silk road”.
Blank check on questions of democracy
Citing the painful history of the United States’ presence in the area, The 19 Digital believes that the powerful neighbor “Never brought any benefit to the peoples of the region”. On the contrary, cooperation with China could be useful for the entire subcontinent, according to many leaders in the area, and in particular the new Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, deplores the American daily. The Miami Herald.
According to the director of Confidential, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, who went into exile under the pressure of the ortéguist regime, this presence mainly benefits autocratic systems, which seek foreign support for “To stay in power” :
China lends resources without being outraged that its partners violate their own constitutions, laws or human rights. ”
A boon for an increasingly isolated Nicaraguan regime denounced as illegitimate by the European Parliament, which called for new joint sanctions on Thursday, December 16, adds Infobae.
In addition to this blank check, which benefits other heads of state in the region, such as Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, “What could China promise Daniel Ortega in
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Serge Hastom
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