On November 5, 2008, the Chinese government released a policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, as it had previously done so for Europe in 2003 and for Africa in 2006. Although it may not come as a huge surprise that Latin America is the most recent region for which China has formally spelled out its foreign policy position, the region has been historically perceived as being under the United States' sphere of influence.
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Brazil and China written by Ricardo C. Amaral,
July 30, 2009
I understand that your organization “The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)” is funded with the purpose of protecting the U.S. interests in Latin America, and the agenda of “The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)” has more to do with fighting for these U.S. interests than anything else.
You also said on your article: “The significance of the release's timing is further clarified in light of Latin American history and Sino-Latin American relations. The U.S. officially categorized Latin America as part of its sphere of influence in 1823, when it first released the Monroe Doctrine. Presumably in response to a wave of independence struggles that had swept Latin America, the doctrine spelled out the terms whereby the U.S. would not tolerate European interference in the region.”
That just confirms once more that your organization and its opinions reflect an agenda of protecting the U.S. interests in Latin America, and nothing else.
In South America we don’t care about the Monroe Doctrine, it does not mean a thing for Brazilians for example, and you should read the following articles to educate yourself about South America and foreign policy:
After you read these 2 articles you will understand that the Monroe Doctrine means something only to Americans and the USA. But it means nothing to the countries of South America, including Brazil.
.
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Brazil and China written by Ricardo C. Amaral,
July 30, 2009
The above article it is also misleading in many ways, and does not give the entire story about the development of the closer ties between Brazil and China.
You need to have some knowledge of China’s economic history during the 20th Century to be able to know that the Chinese economy started to open to world trade only recently.
In December 1978 Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping began his push with what he called "The Four Modernizations"- of agriculture, industry, technology and defense - to bring prosperity to the world's most populous communist country.
And at that time China was a very poor country with almost zero foreign exchange reserves. By July 1997 China's foreign exchange reserves (total reserves minus gold, a standard IMF benchmark) totaled $127.82 billion dollars.
China’s economy has experienced an average of 10 percent growth per annum in recent years. And in the last 10 years China’s foreign exchange reserves increased at an exponential basis and have reached a level of over $ 2.1 trillion dollars in July 2009.
China’s increase in status as an emerging power and influential world power player is a very recent event.
If the author of the above article had read my article: “While China Rises the US Falls in Brazil and Latin America” and so far about 14,000 people read that article – then he would be aware of the following – quoting from that article:
“There is another factor that contributed to the current state of affairs in South America. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States lost its interest regarding South America.
Some South American countries including Brazil, instead of whining or crying over spilled milk, did something about it, as a capitalist country they started searching around the world for new partners to establish new ties to replace their lost business.
The US decline of influence with Brazil did not happen overnight or because of political reasons; it was as a result of economic reasons as Brazil found new partners.
The Brazilian need to find new markets for its products coincided with the economic explosion that has been happening in the Chinese economy in the last few years. Today, China has an insatiable need for commodities of all kinds to feed its amazing production machine.”
*****
Here are some other articles that I recommend that the author of this article should read regarding Brazil and China as follows:
3) Brazzil Magazine – October 2007 "The Smartest Thing China Could Do Right Now: Invest US$ 200 Billion in Brazil" - Written by Ricardo C. Amaral
…The final conclusion is: It's imperative that China move forward in an aggressive fashion and implement with Brazil the plan described in this four-part series of articles. And China should look at it as a matter of national security and future survival.
And...... I understand that your organization “The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)” is funded written by ch.c.,
July 31, 2009
by Brazilians Caïxas 3,4 and 5 !
just re-read their many publications !
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ch.c written by João da Silva,
July 31, 2009
This article is a trash full of misinformation. I can dissect the paragraphs one by one (like you can) and come out with counter arguments. BUT...BUT..., I aint going to waste my time and energy doing it.
So I remain strictly neutral, the Swiss Way
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I wonder if China will also finance this? written by Ricardo C. Amaral,
August 07, 2009
I wonder if the United States government has asked permission from the Chinese government to follow up with this plan, since China is the country that would be financing another U.S. misadventure - this time in South America.
Before you know the U.S. will turn Colombia into another Vietnam.
Why should China finance this new American misadventure into South America considering that South America is becoming a major trading partner of China?
South Americans don’t want any American military bases in South America.
This is why I have been saying for a long time that Brazil should wake up and Brazil needs to develop nuclear weapons to be able to defend itself from any other country that decides to mess around with Brazil.
Brazil should also enter this arms race in South America, and it should start developing nuclear weapons ASAP.
*****
“Uproar over plans for US bases in Colombia” By: TOM HENNIGAN in São Paulo The Irish Times (Ireland) Friday, August 7, 2009
A PLAN by Colombia to allow the US up to seven military bases on its territory has caused uproar in South America, prompting Colombia’s president, Álvaro Uribe, to undertake a tour through the region to try and reassure neighbours anxious about the move.
Colombian and US negotiators are close to finalising a deal that would give the US three air bases, two military bases, and two naval bases, one each on Colombia’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Colombian officials say the bases would count on a light US military presence that would aid them in their operations against the country’s drug traffickers. Colombia is the world’s biggest producer of cocaine, which has fuelled a decades-long insurgency by left-wing guerrillas.
Leading the opposition to the deal is Venezuela’s left-wing president Hugo Chávez. “They are surrounding Venezuela with military bases,” he said in a televised speech Wednesday.
He said the deal would turn Colombia “into an imperialist base of operations from which Venezuelan sovereignty is threatened”. He announced a full review of relations with its neighbour and said he would buy “several battalions of tanks” from Russia.
Last week Chávez recalled his country’s ambassador in Bogotá after the government there accused Venezuela of supplying arms to the Farc, Colombia’s largest guerrilla group. Venezuela denied the charge.
Even Chile and Brazil, who both have good relations with Colombia and the US, have expressed deep unease about the proposed deal.
After stops in Chile, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, Mr Uribe was to meet Brazil’s President Lula yesterday in a bid to address Brazilian concerns over the bases.
Brazil’s foreign minister Celso Amorim said at the weekend the country was worried about the proposal as it provided for “a strong military presence whose objective and capacity go much further than Colombia’s internal needs”.
Colombia, the US’s closest ally in the region, has received more than $6 billion in aid from the US since 2000 as part of the anti-drug programme. It has used the cash to beef up its military, which has scored important military victories against the Farc in recent years.
But while cocaine production has dropped in Colombia, a recent UN report said traffickers had made up the shortfall by expanding production in neighbouring Peru and Bolivia.
While ostensibly part of Washington’s “war on drugs”, the two naval bases in particular will also give the US a renewed military presence close to the Panama canal, the vital trade artery from which the US military was forced to withdraw in 1999, following the non-renewal of its lease by the Panamanian government.
The deal will also come as the US is winding down its only military base on the continent – Manta in Ecuador. The country’s left-wing president, Rafael Correa, refused to renew its lease and is one of the most strident opponents of Colombia’s plan to provide the US with facilities across the border.
On November 5, 2008, the Chinese government released a policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, as it had previously done so for Europe in 2003 and for Africa in 2006. Although it may not come as a huge surprise that Latin America is the most recent region for which China has formally spelled out its foreign policy position, the region has been historically perceived as being under the United States' sphere of influence. 
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I understand that your organization “The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)” is funded with the purpose of protecting the U.S. interests in Latin America, and the agenda of “The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)” has more to do with fighting for these U.S. interests than anything else.
You also said on your article: “The significance of the release's timing is further clarified in light of Latin American history and Sino-Latin American relations. The U.S. officially categorized Latin America as part of its sphere of influence in 1823, when it first released the Monroe Doctrine. Presumably in response to a wave of independence struggles that had swept Latin America, the doctrine spelled out the terms whereby the U.S. would not tolerate European interference in the region.”
That just confirms once more that your organization and its opinions reflect an agenda of protecting the U.S. interests in Latin America, and nothing else.
In South America we don’t care about the Monroe Doctrine, it does not mean a thing for Brazilians for example, and you should read the following articles to educate yourself about South America and foreign policy:
1) Brazzil Magazine - February 2005
“Brazil, the Original Leader of the Americas – Part I”
Written by Ricardo C. Amaral
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/1360/49/
2) Brazzil Magazine - February 2005
“Brazil, the Original Leader of the Americas – Part II”
Written by Ricardo C. Amaral
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/1425/49/
After you read these 2 articles you will understand that the Monroe Doctrine means something only to Americans and the USA. But it means nothing to the countries of South America, including Brazil.
.