Latin America Facing China

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of economic crises, increasing indebtedness as well as financial instability for Latin America and most other developing countries; in contrast, China showed amazingly high growth rates during this time and has since become the third largest economy in the world. Based on several case studies, this volume assesses how China’s rise – one of the most important recent changes in the global economy – is affecting Latin America’s national politics, political economy and regional and international relations. Several Latin American countries benefit from China’s economic growth, and China’s new role in international politics has been helpful to many leftist governments’ efforts in Latin America to end the Washington Consensus. The contributors to this thought provoking volume examine these and the other causes, effects and prospects of Latin America’s experiences with China’s global expansion from a South - South perspective.

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of economic crises, increasing indebtedness as well as financial instability for Latin America and most other developing countries; in contrast, China showed amazingly high growth rates during this time and has since become the third largest economy in the world. Based on several case studies, this volume assesses how China’s rise – one of the most important recent changes in the global economy – is affecting Latin America’s national politics, political economy and regional and international relations. Several Latin American countries benefit from China’s economic growth, and China’s new role in international politics has been helpful to many leftist governments’ efforts in Latin America to end the Washington Consensus. The contributors to this thought provoking volume examine these and the other causes, effects and prospects of Latin America’s experiences with China’s global expansion from a South - South perspective.

List of Tables
List of Figures

Preface
Alex E. Fernández Jilberto and Barbara Hogenboom

Chapter 1. Latin America and China: South-South Relations in a New Era
Alex E. Fernández Jilberto and Barbara Hogenboom

Chapter 2. Brazil and China: From South-South Cooperation to Competition?
Henrique Altemani de Oliveira

Chapter 3. Mexico vs. China: The Troublesome Politics of Competitiveness
Barbara Hogenboom

Chapter 4. Neoliberalized South-South Relations: Free Trade between Chile and China
Alex E. Fernández Jilberto

Chapter 5. Argentina’s Relations with China: Opportunities and Challenges
Carla V. Oliva

Chapter 6. China and Venezuela’s Search for Oil Markets
Javier Corrales

Chapter 7. Bridging the Pacific: Peru’s Search for Closer Economic Ties with China
Rubén Berríos

Chapter 8. Bolivia and China: Indirect Relations in a Global Market
Pablo Poveda

Chapter 9. Central America between two Dragoons: Relations with the two Chinas
Gabriel Aguilera Peralta

Chapter 10. Latin America from Washington Consensus to Beijing Consensus?
Alex E. Fernández Jilberto and Barbara Hogenboom

Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index