US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States is intensifying efforts to counter China's expanding influence across Latin America
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WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States is intensifying efforts to counter China's expanding influence across Latin America, arguing that decades of American neglect allowed Beijing to establish a significant presence in sectors ranging from ports and telecommunications to critical minerals and infrastructure.
Testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State and Related Programs, Rubio described China's growing footprint in the Western Hemisphere as one of the major strategic challenges facing US foreign policy.
"The Chinese efforts in the region have done twofold," Rubio said as he described Beijing's long-term strategy of securing access to natural resources while expanding influence through infrastructure investments.
According to Rubio, China has focused heavily on acquiring access to critical minerals and energy resources across Latin America through long-term agreements and investment projects.
"They try to establish for themselves access to critical minerals, mining of any sort and gain these long-term contracts," he said.
The Secretary also pointed to Chinese investments in strategic infrastructure, including telecommunications networks, ports and transportation facilities.
"They come in with infrastructure investments, key infrastructure like telecommunications, ports," Rubio told lawmakers.
Rubio argued that many countries in the region have become increasingly dependent on Chinese financing because alternative sources of investment were often unavailable.
"A country will come to us and say, we want to build X, or we want to expand Y, but the only people showing up are Chinese companies," he said.
As a result, the administration is seeking to connect governments in the region with American and allied alternatives to Chinese-backed projects.
"The challenge that we have is to identify and connect those US alternatives and not US, Western allied alternatives to what the Chinese are offering," Rubio said.
The comments came during an exchange with Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, who recently returned from a congressional delegation visit to South America and praised the administration's efforts to re-engage the region.
Rubio acknowledged that successive US administrations had often spoken about prioritising Latin America without consistently following through.
"As long as I served in the Senate for 16 years, everybody said we need to focus more on the Western Hemisphere," he said. "No one ever wants to actually do it."
The Secretary highlighted Paraguay as an example of a country that has maintained close ties with the United States and Taiwan despite growing pressure from Beijing.
He also cited ongoing cooperation with governments across the region on critical minerals, supply chains and economic development.
Rubio warned that Chinese financing frequently comes with strategic strings attached, including political influence and leverage in international organisations.
"They expect your vote at the United Nations and in international forums as leverage," he said.
The renewed US focus on Latin America reflects broader efforts to compete with China globally as Beijing expands its economic and diplomatic reach. Over the past two decades, China has become one of the largest trading partners and investors in several Latin American countries, financing major projects in transportation, energy, mining and telecommunications.