A Changing Hemisphere: China's Growing Role in Latin America
Margaret Myers, Oliver Stuenkel, and Julián Ventura discuss China's growing influence in Latin America and its implications for the region.
Feb
4
Tingshu Wang / Pool Photo via AP
About This Event
Over the past two decades, China has expanded its economic and political footprint across Latin America. Through massive infrastructure investments, growing trade partnerships, and deepening diplomatic ties, Beijing has become a major player in the region—and Latin American countries are actively weighing what this relationship offers them. What should the United States make of China's growing presence in the hemisphere? What does this mean for Latin America's future? Join us for a conversation with Margaret Myers, Oliver Stuenkel, and Julián Ventura as they examine China's growing influence in Latin America.
About the Speakers
Director, Asia and Latin America Program, Inter-American Dialogue
Margaret Myers established the Dialogue’s China and Latin America working group in 2011 to examine China’s growing presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. She also developed the China-Latin America Finance Database, the only publicly available source of empirical data on Chinese state lending in Latin America.
Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Oliver Stuenkel is a senior fellow affiliated with the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also a Fellow at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and an associate professor at the School of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) in São Paulo, Brazil.
Nonresident Distinguished Fellow, Latin America and the Global Economy
Julián Ventura is a senior advisor at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group. With over 30 years of diplomatic experience across four Mexican administrations, he most recently served as deputy secretary of foreign relations, overseeing relationships in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East while leading Mexico's G-20 negotiations. He joined the Council in 2025 as a nonresident distinguished fellow for Latin America and the global economy.