RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For some years now, China has begun a slow but steady process of unbridled “neo-colonization”, mainly in Latin America.
The rigid moral standards dictated by the Communist Party (CPC) to the population and its ruling class would prevent the regime from subduing other peoples by force of crucifixes or gospels, as was the case in past centuries. Nor would present times tolerate military invasions.
That is why China’s expansionist voracity bears the stamp of the US Federal Reserve: its officials offer dollars. Many dollars. From millions to billions. And it seems to be working.
Millennial wisdom pays off for the CPC. Its hierarchy – headed by Xi Jinping, the president of the central government – knows each and every one of the shortcomings and needs of developing and Third World countries whose majority of leaders and rulers only think of staying in power or in surviving it. Africa and Latin America, historically neglected continents, are clear examples of Beijing’s use of its money to exploit their resources and try to impose customs and laws.
In the Latin region, China has been actively reaching out for over a decade, always with the same tactic: easy loans and fresh money, and always with the same strategy: trying to seize the tempting and endless natural resources and information.
Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Argentina, for instance, were some of the countries where China gained a foothold by dint of the convertible yuan. Since 2005, approximately US$141 billion (R$564 billion) came down as manna to the delight of presidents who love 21st century socialism. The dollars were transferred from the Chinese Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China.
The Chavista dictatorship led by Nicolás Maduro is a great partner and debtor. According to the Financial Database of China and Latin America, the credits that landed in Caracas in the past ten years amounted to some US$62 billion. So far, it has yet to pay back more than a third of that amount.
Aware of the delicate financial and economic situation of the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Beijing will have to wait. It knows that a trickle of oil barrels and areas of mining and crude oil exploitation will be ceded to it, in exchange for not being a hostile creditor. Moreover, Maduro is promoting a joint venture with the parent company PetroChina, China’s National Petroleum Corporation, better known by its acronym CNPC. Together they would establish a new business unit that could produce up to 65,000 barrels every 24 hours.
But there is another risk, and it is an environmental one. What are the parameters under which Chinese companies operate in the Orinoco Basin to exploit – in addition to refineries – Venezuela’s diamond and gold mines? Under what labor laws do Venezuelan employees work? Or are they mostly Chinese?
Ecuador, in Rafael Correa’s time, was also a beneficiary of eastern generosity. Since 2009, approximately US$17.5 billion has been allocated. The sectors that have seen dollars pouring in are hydrocarbons, electricity, and mining. Companies like Sinohydro, Gezhouba, China Petroleum, and Chinalco are in charge of several of the largest projects, not only on Ecuadorian soil but across Latin America.
A report by the Collective on Chinese Financing and Investment, Human Rights and Environment (CICDHA) – made up of a consortium of NGOs from Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil – documented “the Chinese state’s failure to comply with its extraterritorial human rights obligations in at least 18 projects operated by 15 Chinese business consortia, which have operated with the support of six Chinese banks in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.”
Of the 18 documented cases, seven pertain to the mining industry, six to the oil industry and five to the water sector. Likewise, 15 affect indigenous territories, 11 affect protected natural areas, five are natural and cultural heritage sites recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and 12 belong to the Ecuadorian, Bolivian and Brazilian Amazon region.
The violation of communities’ rights is a constant. “In Ecuador, the San Carlos Panantza project has reported several raids, arbitrary detentions and judicial investigations against indigenous leaders as a result of the confrontation over forced evictions in August 2016, an event that left one police officer dead and nine people injured,” denounce human rights organizations. Details: all attacks were conducted by the corporations in charge of the investment plan.
In most of the projects, China disregards international recommendations and tramples on communities – particularly indigenous communities – and the environment. In Bolivia, for instance, “the Nueva Esperanza oil block overlaps with one of the three territories of the Tacana indigenous people, which houses an indigenous community in voluntary isolation, the Toromona tribe.”
“Although the Tacana opposed oil prospecting, the Bolivian government forced the project and carried out a consultation process in which conditions were agreed to safeguard the territory and protect the Tacana and Toromona peoples. However, BGP Inc. ignored the agreements and damaged the environment, affecting their livelihoods,” says the same document. For Evo Morales, some indigenous people have more rights than others.
Meanwhile, in Argentina, the governments of Cristina Kirchner and Mauricio Macri – of different political views – agreed on something. They allowed and encouraged the establishment of an “observation” base in Patagonia for the exclusive use of the Chinese government. The involvement of Argentinian officials is forbidden there. No one is allowed to come close to see what this gigantic antenna, capable of collecting communications throughout the continent, is all about. Only uniforms with red flags and yellow stars may cross their gates.
China’s dominance could be further expanded if Huawei is awarded 5G network contracts in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Who will control the back doors that this network would house all over the planet? Who would be willing to offer the neo-colonizer omnipresence in telecommunications?
The temptation is great for anyone in need of money and investment pledges, particularly for poor continents with a different course. All the more so if it is a question of nations whose leaders tend to see the future only as their own political project and not as sustainable development in time without compromising natural resources, one of the main assets that a country can have, in addition to the strategic vision of its leaders.
Source: Infobae