In another clear demonstration of North American interference, the head of the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Laura Richardson , gave new signs of her obsession with what her government considers the “China threat” and attacked the Asian giant's investments in Latin America and the Caribbean. . From Miami, during the opening of the IX Hemispheric Security Conference, the Yankee general, without blushing, stated that "Latin America does not benefit from the resources that China extracts from the region" , as was reflected in the Sunday edition of the newspaper Mexican La Jornada. Richardson was accompanied, on the occasion, by Daniel Erikson, Senior Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the National Security Council . Both participated in the first panel debate, moderated by Brian Fonseca, director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute , academic and research entity oriented to issues of public policy and American national security.
“The first mega port that China built in Latin America only makes it easier for the Chinese to extract resources from the region,” Richardson complained, referring to the gigantic port of Chancay, located in the province of Huaral, department of Lima, where the enormous infrastructure The port will become an exchange and distribution center for Peru and the entire region, moving a large amount of goods in transit to and from the Pacific, with a preponderance of mining products, which are the ones that interest Beijing the most.
It should be noted that the People's Republic of China has invested around $3.6 billion in this work, which began in 2023 and is expected to be completed and operational by mid-November 2024 . According to the Argentine newspaper El Cronista, the state shipping company Cosco Shipping will have the exclusivity of the exploitation of key services in the Peruvian mega port terminal . For its part, the Panamanian media Critica raised Washington's enormous concern , making it clear that this is not limited to the extraction of resources, in many cases strategic, but also to cybersecurity and data protection . This was clearly reflected in the importance Richardson placed on the issue, asking “why is there so much focus on Chinese critical infrastructure in this hemisphere?” Who is going to have all the data?”, in clear reference to Washington's fears that critical infrastructure, such as port cargo scanning systems, will be under the control of entities associated with the Chinese government.
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