Millennium Nucleus ICLAC director and academic at the Institute of Political Science at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Francisco Urdinez, presented his book “Economic Displacement: China and the End of US Primacy in Latin America" at the Department of Political Science at the University of São Paulo (USP) on June 5.
During the meeting, directed at academics and students, Urdinez presented the central thesis of his research, which addresses changes in Latin America's geopolitical and economic balance during the last two decades.
The presentation's focus was on the concept of "economic displacement", with which the author describes the process by which China's economic influence has surpassed that of the United States in most South American countries. Backed by a quantitative database, the academic showed that Chinese economic weight in the region multiplied by 15 between 2001 and 2020, while that of the United States was reduced by half in the same period.
Urdinez argued that this phenomenon doesn't respond only to an expansion strategy from Beijing, but is also driven by active demand from Latin American countries for goods, credits, and investments. To illustrate this point, he referred to cases such as Chinese financing of dams in Argentina and investment in Chancay port in Peru.
According to the research, this displacement has measurable political consequences. In countries where China has economically displaced the U.S., changes are registered in public opinion and in voting patterns of said countries in multilateral forums like the UN or OAS, where their alignment with the United States tends to decrease.
One of the conclusions presented in the book is the configuration of two subregions with distinct trajectories: a Central America and Mexico with strong economic integration with the United States, and a South America that progressively orients toward China.
The presentation at USP ended with a round of questions and debate among attendees about the data and conclusions presented.