Chinese exploitation in Latin America raises concerns
Recent reports of environmental degradation in various parts of Latin America point to an increasing concern over growing Chinese demand for commodities in the region, resulting in the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, what Michael T. Klare calls “a race for what's left”.
According to a study last year by Enrique Dussel Peters, a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Latin America has been a leading destination for Chinese foreign direct investment. Since the crisis hit, China has also become the main lender to the region, with $37 billion in loans only in 2010, much more that the World Bank.
Notwithstanding certain economic benefits for Latin American countries, the repayments to China are guaranteed by long term commodity sales. This gives a green light to further exploitation often without much consideration to sustainability principles. Additionally, the developmental consequences of this relationship have also been questioned, with a flood of Chinese imports undercutting local manufacturing.
“China is shopping worldwide for natural resources. We're in the midst of a process of commodity accumulation by them. In that context, they lend money to Ecuador and the government pays with oil through anticipated sales. We have committed sales to them up until 2019”, said Alberto Acosta, who once served as energy minister of Ecuador.
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