[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 707 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 707
Expressing concern about the increasing influence of the People's
Republic of China in Latin America and the Caribbean and calling for
strengthened United States economic, security, and diplomatic
engagement in the region.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2026
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Budd) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing concern about the increasing influence of the People's
Republic of China in Latin America and the Caribbean and calling for
strengthened United States economic, security, and diplomatic
engagement in the region.
Whereas the People's Republic of China (PRC) has pursued a strategy of
strengthening its security, economic, and diplomatic ties with countries
in Latin America and the Caribbean, which has advanced dramatically over
the last decade and poses significant risks to the national interests of
the United States;
Whereas the PRC has leveraged economic, security, and political incentives to
induce countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, leaving Belize,
Guatemala, Paraguay, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as the only countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean that retain diplomatic ties with Taiwan;
Whereas the PRC has fostered security relationships with almost every country in
Latin America through arm sales, equipment donations, joint exercises,
and professional military education exchanges, with the most significant
security assistance going to repressive regimes hostile to the national
interests of the United States;
Whereas, according to the former commander of the United States Southern
Command, Craig Faller, the PRC has trained more military officers in
Latin America than the United States annually since 2015, and the PRC's
National Defense University was training five times more personnel from
the Latin America and Caribbean region than the United States Army War
College as of 2020;
Whereas the PRC is engaged in arm sales with several countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean, including Ecuador, Argentina, and Peru, and has
donated dual-use equipment, including surveillance equipment from
Huawei, ZTE, Dahua, and Hikvision, to several countries in the region;
Whereas PRC-based criminal organizations operate in tandem with transnational
criminal organizations in Latin America on illegal wildlife trafficking,
money laundering, and the shipment of precursor chemicals for fentanyl
and other synthetic opioids, and the PRC has taken insufficient steps to
address those activities;
Whereas, in 2015, the PRC surpassed the United States as South America's largest
trade partner;
Whereas the PRC has transformed a $12 billion trade relationship with Latin
America in 2000 into a $518 billion trade relationship as of 2024,
leading to projections that the PRC could overtake the United States as
the region's largest trade partner by 2035;
Whereas 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the PRC's
Belt and Road Initiative, 10 of the 11 South American countries maintain
``strategic partnerships'' with the PRC, and 5 Latin American countries
have signed free trade agreements with the PRC;
Whereas, at the 2025 China-CELAC Forum, President of Colombia Gustavo Petro
announced Colombia's entrance into the PRC's Belt and Road Initiative,
its intention to join the BRICS New Development Bank, and its interest
in purchasing PRC-made fighter aircraft;
Whereas the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have
loaned more than $120 billion to Latin America since 2005;
Whereas investments from the PRC have been concentrated in strategic sectors
including energy, mining, surveillance, and port infrastructure, with
the PRC and associated companies funding projects such as the $3.5
billion Chancay mega port in Peru, a $1.3 billion investment in Mexican
cloud infrastructure, and $2.72 billion in Mexico's automobile industry
in 2023 alone;
Whereas technology from the PRC has been adopted by repressive regimes,
including Maduro's illegitimate government in Venezuela, to police and
intimidate citizens, while other countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean have increasingly come to rely on PRC-made telecommunications
infrastructure, putting sensitive consumer data and government systems
at risk;
Whereas the majority of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean do not have
an equivalent mechanism to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States to conduct oversight of foreign investment in strategic
sectors and potential threats to their national interests;
Whereas, despite the predatory nature of loans from the PRC, the poor quality of
completed infrastructure projects, and the risk to national interests
posed by many projects undertaken by PRC companies throughout the
region, the PRC touts itself to Latin American and Caribbean audiences
as a reliable partner focused on mutually beneficial partnerships,
successfully amplifying that message through Spanish and Portuguese
media content, journalist exchange programs, and high-level diplomacy
with Latin American and Caribbean state leaders;
Whereas the People's Daily has established content-sharing and other
partnerships with outlets in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil and
recently organized the 2024 China-Latin America and Caribbean Media
Cooperation Forum in Rio de Janeiro;
Whereas 247 journalists from 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries were
brought to the PRC in April 2024 to induce more favorable coverage of
the PRC in the journalists' home countries;
Whereas Latin American and Caribbean countries now house 44 Confucius
Institutes, state-led educational programs that include Chinese language
lessons, cultural exchanges, and academic collaborations;
Whereas the dismantlement of the United States Agency for Global Media has
limited the operations of the 450 affiliates of Voice of America in
Latin America, leaving many people in the region without independent
media as the PRC escalates its dissemination of malign propaganda and
information operations;
Whereas the PRC has solidified its engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean
through its participation and investment in multilateral institutions
such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the
Organization of American States, and the Inter-American Development
Bank;
Whereas President Xi Jinping has visited the Latin America and Caribbean region
six times since 2013 and has prioritized high-level engagement, pledging
to invite 300 political officials from the Community of Latin American
and Caribbean States to Beijing annually in 2026 and 2027; and
Whereas, in May 2025, the PRC hosted 17 foreign ministers and 3 heads of state
in Beijing for the China-CELAC Forum and made several significant
commitments, including a 9 billion yuan credit line for countries in the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) affirms that the United States Government is positioned
to be the closest and strongest partner to countries in Latin
America and the Caribbean and remains committed to taking the
necessary steps to counter the growing influence of the PRC
while promoting the region's prosperity;
(2) emphasizes the importance of continued investment by
the United States, including through Millennium Challenge
Corporation programs and Development Finance Corporation
financing, in energy, port, and mining infrastructure to
provide countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with
viable financial alternatives to predatory loans from the PRC;
(3) calls on the Trump administration to devise a strategy
to counter the PRC's influence in Latin America and the
Caribbean across security, economic, and diplomatic areas;
(4) urges the Trump administration to strengthen its
ability to compete with the PRC in Latin America and the
Caribbean by increasing engagement with security, political,
and media personnel in the region through the enhancement and
enlargement of training and exchange programs; and
(5) encourages countries in Latin America and Caribbean to
adopt mechanisms similar to the Committee on Foreign Investment
in the United States to review foreign investment, including
from the PRC, in strategic sectors that risks undermining the
security and independence of recipient countries.
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