Milei Win Latest Development In US-China Tussle For LatAm Influence

(MNI) London - Following a meeting in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, President Xi has announced that the two countries have upgraded their ties to the level of a 'comprehensive strategic partnership'. The announcement comes weeks after Xi announced a similar deal alongside Colombian President Gustavo Petro, announcing a strategic partnership between the two countries.

• The agreement with Colombia in particular will have come as something of a blow to the United States, given that Bogata has been Washington, D.C.'s key ally in the region over several decades and was - alongside Guyana - the only country on the continent not to hold the 'strategic partnership' designation with China.
• The swath of left-leaning, generally non-US aligned gov'ts elected across key LatAm economies in recent years (Gabriel Boric in Chile, Gustavo Petro in Colombia, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil) has seen China become an increasingly important trade and investment partner.
• However, the election of right-wing libertarian Javier Milei in Argentina on 19 Nov could arrest the regional momentum towards integration with China over the US. Milei has signaled that his gov't will not seek BRICS membership or develop closer links with China (at the governmental level), instead hewing more closely to the US.
• Indeed, even the US' staunchest critic in LatAm - Venezuela - is experiencing something of a detente as the US relaxes sanctionsin exchange for international observers taking part in next year's elections.