S.Res. 707

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 707 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 707

Expressing concern about the increasing influence of the People's 
Republic of China in Latin America and the Caribbean and calling for 
strengthened United States economic, security, and diplomatic 
engagement in the region.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 30, 2026

Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Budd) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Expressing concern about the increasing influence of the People's 
Republic of China in Latin America and the Caribbean and calling for 
strengthened United States economic, security, and diplomatic 
engagement in the region.

Whereas the People's Republic of China (PRC) has pursued a strategy of 
strengthening its security, economic, and diplomatic ties with countries 
in Latin America and the Caribbean, which has advanced dramatically over 
the last decade and poses significant risks to the national interests of 
the United States;
Whereas the PRC has leveraged economic, security, and political incentives to 
induce countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, leaving Belize, 
Guatemala, Paraguay, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as the only countries in Latin America 
and the Caribbean that retain diplomatic ties with Taiwan;
Whereas the PRC has fostered security relationships with almost every country in 
Latin America through arm sales, equipment donations, joint exercises, 
and professional military education exchanges, with the most significant 
security assistance going to repressive regimes hostile to the national 
interests of the United States;
Whereas, according to the former commander of the United States Southern 
Command, Craig Faller, the PRC has trained more military officers in 
Latin America than the United States annually since 2015, and the PRC's 
National Defense University was training five times more personnel from 
the Latin America and Caribbean region than the United States Army War 
College as of 2020;
Whereas the PRC is engaged in arm sales with several countries in Latin America 
and the Caribbean, including Ecuador, Argentina, and Peru, and has 
donated dual-use equipment, including surveillance equipment from 
Huawei, ZTE, Dahua, and Hikvision, to several countries in the region;
Whereas PRC-based criminal organizations operate in tandem with transnational 
criminal organizations in Latin America on illegal wildlife trafficking, 
money laundering, and the shipment of precursor chemicals for fentanyl 
and other synthetic opioids, and the PRC has taken insufficient steps to 
address those activities;
Whereas, in 2015, the PRC surpassed the United States as South America's largest 
trade partner;
Whereas the PRC has transformed a $12 billion trade relationship with Latin 
America in 2000 into a $518 billion trade relationship as of 2024, 
leading to projections that the PRC could overtake the United States as 
the region's largest trade partner by 2035;
Whereas 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the PRC's 
Belt and Road Initiative, 10 of the 11 South American countries maintain 
``strategic partnerships'' with the PRC, and 5 Latin American countries 
have signed free trade agreements with the PRC;
Whereas, at the 2025 China-CELAC Forum, President of Colombia Gustavo Petro 
announced Colombia's entrance into the PRC's Belt and Road Initiative, 
its intention to join the BRICS New Development Bank, and its interest 
in purchasing PRC-made fighter aircraft;
Whereas the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have 
loaned more than $120 billion to Latin America since 2005;
Whereas investments from the PRC have been concentrated in strategic sectors 
including energy, mining, surveillance, and port infrastructure, with 
the PRC and associated companies funding projects such as the $3.5 
billion Chancay mega port in Peru, a $1.3 billion investment in Mexican 
cloud infrastructure, and $2.72 billion in Mexico's automobile industry 
in 2023 alone;
Whereas technology from the PRC has been adopted by repressive regimes, 
including Maduro's illegitimate government in Venezuela, to police and 
intimidate citizens, while other countries in Latin America and the 
Caribbean have increasingly come to rely on PRC-made telecommunications 
infrastructure, putting sensitive consumer data and government systems 
at risk;
Whereas the majority of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean do not have 
an equivalent mechanism to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the 
United States to conduct oversight of foreign investment in strategic 
sectors and potential threats to their national interests;
Whereas, despite the predatory nature of loans from the PRC, the poor quality of 
completed infrastructure projects, and the risk to national interests 
posed by many projects undertaken by PRC companies throughout the 
region, the PRC touts itself to Latin American and Caribbean audiences 
as a reliable partner focused on mutually beneficial partnerships, 
successfully amplifying that message through Spanish and Portuguese 
media content, journalist exchange programs, and high-level diplomacy 
with Latin American and Caribbean state leaders;
Whereas the People's Daily has established content-sharing and other 
partnerships with outlets in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil and 
recently organized the 2024 China-Latin America and Caribbean Media 
Cooperation Forum in Rio de Janeiro;
Whereas 247 journalists from 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries were 
brought to the PRC in April 2024 to induce more favorable coverage of 
the PRC in the journalists' home countries;
Whereas Latin American and Caribbean countries now house 44 Confucius 
Institutes, state-led educational programs that include Chinese language 
lessons, cultural exchanges, and academic collaborations;
Whereas the dismantlement of the United States Agency for Global Media has 
limited the operations of the 450 affiliates of Voice of America in 
Latin America, leaving many people in the region without independent 
media as the PRC escalates its dissemination of malign propaganda and 
information operations;
Whereas the PRC has solidified its engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean 
through its participation and investment in multilateral institutions 
such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the 
Organization of American States, and the Inter-American Development 
Bank;
Whereas President Xi Jinping has visited the Latin America and Caribbean region 
six times since 2013 and has prioritized high-level engagement, pledging 
to invite 300 political officials from the Community of Latin American 
and Caribbean States to Beijing annually in 2026 and 2027; and
Whereas, in May 2025, the PRC hosted 17 foreign ministers and 3 heads of state 
in Beijing for the China-CELAC Forum and made several significant 
commitments, including a 9 billion yuan credit line for countries in the 
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) affirms that the United States Government is positioned 
to be the closest and strongest partner to countries in Latin 
America and the Caribbean and remains committed to taking the 
necessary steps to counter the growing influence of the PRC 
while promoting the region's prosperity;
(2) emphasizes the importance of continued investment by 
the United States, including through Millennium Challenge 
Corporation programs and Development Finance Corporation 
financing, in energy, port, and mining infrastructure to 
provide countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with 
viable financial alternatives to predatory loans from the PRC;
(3) calls on the Trump administration to devise a strategy 
to counter the PRC's influence in Latin America and the 
Caribbean across security, economic, and diplomatic areas;
(4) urges the Trump administration to strengthen its 
ability to compete with the PRC in Latin America and the 
Caribbean by increasing engagement with security, political, 
and media personnel in the region through the enhancement and 
enlargement of training and exchange programs; and
(5) encourages countries in Latin America and Caribbean to 
adopt mechanisms similar to the Committee on Foreign Investment 
in the United States to review foreign investment, including 
from the PRC, in strategic sectors that risks undermining the 
security and independence of recipient countries.
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