Heine on the Stability of Latin America’s Relationship to China for CNN
Ambassador Jorge Heine, former Chilean diplomat to China and professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies, was interviewed by CNN for a segment titled, How Trump’s Venezuela strike complicates China’s Latin America strategy that was published on January 23, 2026. Heine was asked to contextualize and comment on Latin America’s relationship to it’s largest investment and business partner, China, amidst the recent removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States.
As Latin American’s relationship to China has deepened in recent decades, so too has the United States’ anxiety due to its global competition with the Asian country. Heine voiced his disagreement of the current rhetoric that “China’s presence in Latin America is often described as some sort of grand scheme to take over the region.”
Since the enactment of the Belt and Road Initiative initiative in 2013, China has funded much-needed infrastructure as well as enhanced global trade, connectivity, and economic growth in Latin American countries. A supporter of this initiative during his time in China, Heine had this to say, “This is a partnership that has evolved over time. It has grown organically. There are minuses, I fully agree on that, but if we draw a balance, I would say the pluses outweigh the minuses.”
While the United States has expressed concern over this dependency on China, a separation from Latin America would now be impossible. Heine also noted that the United States has not offered a valuable counter argument to what China has to offer.
The notion that you should be stuck in that infrastructure deficit and not do anything about it, because United States doesn’t like Chinese companies to help remedy it, is something that doesn’t go down well with Latin American governments. Particularly since the US isn’t saying ‘I will build the port, I will building the railway, I will build the bridge.’
Going forward, while the removal of Maduro has certainly made waves with Venezuelan leadership, Heine’s closing remarks asserted that China-Latin America partnerships have not been deterred. “The Chinese message has been that China is a partner that offers stability and predictability. In diplomacy, this is very important. You could say that the United States today is not exactly a prime example of stability”
The full interview can be watched here.
A former research professor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Jorge Heine is a diplomat, international relations scholar, and lawyer. He is currently a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute. He has served as an ambassador of Chile to China, India, and South Africa. Heine has written over fifteen books, including The Non-Aligned World: Striking Out in an Era of Great Power Competition (2025), which provides insights on how the Global South can navigate the changing diplomatic landscape amid the U.S.-China rivalry.