In the latest interview, renowned security expert Joseph Humire delves into how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is penetrating Latin America and discusses the alliance between the CCP, Iran, and Russia and its impact on the region from Venezuela to Bolivia and beyond, as well as its implications for the United States and the broader Western world.
Latin America is facing a problem where the region is moving towards a more authoritarian direction. Democracy is fading into darkness, and Russia, China (CCP), and Iran are seizing the opportunity to pursue their own interests,” said Humire.
Humire, a former US Marine who fought in Iraq, now serves as the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society think tank and is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. As an expert in unconventional warfare, he has closely monitored Latin America for two decades.
“In many ways, the alliance between China and Iran could be the most dangerous, even more so than the China-Russia alliance, even though the latter is more discussed in diplomatic affairs,” Humire said.
“If you think that China (CCP) is only doing this for economic ambitions, then you do not understand the way China (CCP) operates. They are buying a country. They are buying the sovereignty of that country,” Humire said, “Essentially, China (CCP) is making Latin America a more hostile region towards the United States.”
Humire recalled his initial interest in Latin American affairs back in 2004 when, during a naval exercise named “UNITAS,” he observed Chinese companies controlling ports along the Panama Canal.
“They had over 40 port construction projects in Central and South America, major deep-water ports in South America, port expansion projects, and alternative canal development in Central America and Mexico. Furthermore, they have the capability to operate on both sides of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the Western Hemisphere. Thus, their expansion in this area is very rapid,” Humire added.
So, how does the construction of these 40 deep-water ports impact the national security of the US, Canada, and the entire North American region?
Humire explained, “For China and Latin America, 2004 was actually a turning point, as Xi Jinping visited Latin America during that time, marking the first visit by a Chinese president to the region in the 21st century. He made a powerful statement and bold commitments, saying that China would invest $100 billion within the next six years. This caught the attention of everyone in Latin America, and many countries started inviting China to their countries. This commitment was not a false promise.”
“By 2010, China’s trade loans and investments in Latin America had reached $110 billion. Today, this number has inflated to over $450 billion,” Humire continued.
“The language they expressed was widely accepted in Latin America, that China was only interested in economics, commerce, and trade. At some meetings, they even changed the image of China to appear more moderate, stating that ‘this is about trade, diplomatic relations, and cultural exchanges, we have absolutely no military intentions.’ In reality, we went through a period where I believe they misled Latin America, making them think that everything was only about business and trade.”
“And this is our neighboring region, where we have substantial military cooperation relationships, as well as diplomatic relations and cultural exchanges. In other words, this should be a region protected by the ‘Monroe Doctrine,’ and external influences should be prohibited.”
“America has made many misleading policies in this regard. If someone told me an example, it involved the largest multilateral financial institution in Latin America, known as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), like a mini World Bank set up specifically for Latin America. During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the IDB was greatly affected by the subprime crisis, leading to a significant economic crisis. This gave the CCP an opportunity. It allowed the CCP to join the bank with a minimal stake.”
“But they did something unprecedented in the 60-year history of the IDB. They paid a fee called ‘membership fee,’ basically, they bought off Latin America’s largest multilateral institution. What did they achieve by doing this? They were able to set conditions, one of which was that if they provided funds, they called it a ‘special development program,’ a special operational fund set up through the bank, wherein if they provided these loans to specific countries, the IDB had to provide matching loans.”
“As the US holds almost 40% of the shares in the bank, it can be said that the US inadvertently contributed to the rise of the CCP in Latin America. The mistake in US policy is not understanding that the CCP has malicious intentions because they misled Latin America, making them think it was all about business and trade, when in fact, it has more military implications.”
“In essence, they began funding very specific projects through this special operational fund set up by the bank.”
He then illustrated with Venezuela as an example, explaining, “Because Venezuela seems to be the epicenter where many external forces are supporting in Latin America.”
“I began to see the connection between China and Iran, and I would say the China-Iran alliance may be the most dangerous in many ways, even more dangerous than the China-Russia alliance, although the latter is discussed more in international affairs,” Humire explained.
“When the CCP carried out large-scale projects and provided loans in Venezuela, it established significant economic ties between Beijing and Caracas. Meanwhile, Iran was also active in Venezuela during the same period, between 2005 and 2009, but in a very stealthy manner.”
While providing an analysis on Iran’s involvement in the region, Humire emphasized that Iran lacks political capital in Latin America and is also deficient in economic capital, whereas China possesses both.
“If the CCP is found to disrupt the stability of Latin American countries through these armed provocations or in any way, they would suffer tremendous losses: they might lose trade relations, they might lose political relations, they might lose their status. But if Iran is caught undertaking these actions, they almost have no losses, even though their influence is very hidden, nobody would consider Iran a significant player in the region,” he said.
“The CCP benefits from Iran’s actions to disrupt the region, create conflicts and chaos, and utilizes this chaos to facilitate change. Therefore, I believe this connection in Latin America is very real and perhaps even closer than most people realize.”
Humire also touched upon the newly elected president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and his vision for the region’s economy and geopolitics.
“The election of Javier Milei was shocking to many, especially to Russia, China, and Iran. They have termed Argentina as ‘Argent-China’ because China deeply infiltrated various institutions in Argentina through the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. It’s like China is penetrating Argentina,” said Humire.
“In fact, before Javier Milei, the former president, Alberto Fernandez, openly stated that he intended to make Argentina a gateway for Russia to enter Latin America in his last year in office.”
“However, Javier Milei emerged as an economist who is addressing economic issues. But he is also a strategist who sees the geopolitical position Argentina should have. He knows that to achieve the freedom, prosperity, and security that Argentina deserves, he must separate from Russia, China, and Iran. This is not easy, and he cannot do it overnight, but I believe this is the direction he is leading the country.”
“But to succeed, he needs partners; he cannot fight alone as Javier Milei and Argentina. This is why I believe the US needs to realign with Argentina, and I think other countries and world nations should do the same.”
“He has visited Europe and other parts of the world; he is trying to expand Argentina’s foreign relations to show the world that Argentina is about to revive. I believe if he gets help, he will succeed.”
【Program production: Yuhsuan Lee, Weicheng Pan】