China urged the US to refrain from interfering in its foreign relations and trying to disrupt its links with Latin America and the Caribbean. It called such efforts a reflection of Cold War mentality, emphasizing that the days of treating an entire region like ones backyard are over.

Replying to a question during a regular press conference on Monday, August 25, Guo Jiakun, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs remarked that Chinese relations with the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are based on mutual development and not on any intention to dominate or hegemonize others.

Unlike the US, which “has tried every means to interfere in and exert control over the region for years” China conducts its relations with the countries in the region on the basis of “mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation” and is welcomed by both the governments and people in the region, Jaikun asserted.

Speaking during a conference in Argentina on August 21, US Navy admiral Alvin Holsey, commander of US Southern Command, accused China of trying to “export its authoritarian model” to Latin America and extract the region’s “precious resources” in a “methodical incursion”.

Halsey expressed US apprehensions over China using its presence in the region to control strategic locations and “disrupt trade, and challenge the various sovereignty of our nations, or the neutrality of the Antarctic”.

“Such US allegations represent nothing but a worn out narrative divorced from reality, which once again expose the ingrained Cold War mentality and confrontational mindset of certain individuals within the US,” Jiakun replied.

No One’s Backyard

The US, following its infamous “Monroe Doctrine” of 1823, has sought to maintain control and domination over Latin America and the Caribbean. For decades, it has declared that the region is its “backyard” and tried to control the foreign relations of the countries in the region. It has interfered in their domestic and economic decision making as well, both during and after the end of the Cold War in the twentieth century.

In recent decades, several countries in the region, riding the wave of popular movements, have revolted against US intervention and successfully asserted the independence of their domestic and foreign policies.

Such countries, including Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, among others, have been subjected to US sanctions or total economic blockade for years now because the governments there have refused to submit to US dictates.

Recently, millions of people mobilized in Venezuela in reaction to the US raising the “bounty” on their president, Nicolás Maduro, and sending troops into the Caribbean – threatening an invasion of the country.

Jiakun hinted at such interference and efforts to control the fate of the countries in the region through economic and military might. He claimed that the days of hegemonic dominance over the region are over and it is time for the US to learn that Latin America and the Caribbean is not anyone’s backyard.

Jaikun underlined that the US must realize that countries in the region have the right to independently choose their development path and their partners.

He assured that “China-Latin America cooperation is not targeted at any third party” and therefore, it should not be “subject to interference from any third party”.

The US should not try to sow discord between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, creating trouble out of nothing, Jiakun said, hoping that instead the US uses its resources to help the countries in the region have better economic development.



Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch