Miami – The Colombian government has requested to join a development bank based in China, another sign of The drift from Latin America away from the United States As Trump’s foreign aid cuts, commercial barriers and repression against immigration stimulate many leaders in the region to seek closer ties with Washington Geopolitical Rival.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro He wrapped a visit to China this week with a stop in Shanghai, where he met with the former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseffthe head of the New Development Bank.
He multilateral lender It was established a decade ago as a project from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the call BRICS Nations of the main developing markets, as an opposite of the institutions dominated by the United States as the World Bank and Inter -American Development Bank.
To date, the New Development Bank has approved loans for 122 infrastructure projects that total more than $ 40 billion in areas such as transport, sanitation and clean energy, according to Rousseff.
Petro, speaking with journalists in China on Saturday, said that Colombia is committed to buying shares worth $ 512 million in the bank. He said he was especially excited about ensuring the support of the New Development Bank for a 120 -kilometer channel or railroad (75 miles), or rail, which connects the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of Colombia that, according to him, would position the country in the “heart” of trade between South America and Asia.
Colombia is the second Latin American country to try to join the bank after Tiny Uruguay sought membership in 2021.
But the traditional role of Colombia as an ally and caregiver of the United States and caregiver in THE WAR AGAINST DRUGS You are likely to raise your eyebrows in Washington. The United States Department of State said this week that it would be “vigorously opposed” to the financing of projects linked to Belt and Road initiative of China In Latin America. Petro enrolled in the initiative during a summit with other leftist leaders of Brazil and China.
Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, said he would not be deterred by the pressure of the United States and reaffirmed that Colombia seeks to remain neutral in a new era of geopolitical disputes.
“We made this decision freely,” Petro told Shanghai journalists. “With the United States we can speak face to face, with China too.”
