Heine Analyzes U.S. Sanctions and South America’s Digital Fault Line
Ambassador Jorge Heine, former Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies, recently co-authored a piece for Tech Policy Press titled Untethering South America from US Cables After Rubio Pressures Chile in Trans-Pacific. Heine and his co-author, Juan Ortiz Freuler, argue that the United States’ decision to impose visa sanctions on three Chilean officials considering approval of a China‑backed undersea fiber‑optic cable marks a significant escalation in Washington’s coercive approach to South America’s digital infrastructure choices. The proposed $500 million China Mobile project would have created the first direct cable link between South America and Asia, a striking gap given China’s status as the region’s top trading partner.
The authors note that the United States currently occupies a dominant position in global internet infrastructure, with all South American countries connected through U.S. landing points. This “hub‑and‑spoke” system gives Washington a central role in shaping, monitoring, and potentially restricting information flows. As the authors wrote, the U.S. has previously “abused its central position”, from surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden to digital lockouts imposed on international institutions.
The sanctions against Chilean officials are unusual, they observe, because they penalize them not for implementing a policy but for merely considering a foreign investment proposal. They frame this as part of a broader shift in U.S. strategy, moving from influence to coercion as competition with China intensifies. Washington’s pressure echoes a long tradition rooted in the Monroe Doctrine and its updated version, described under the Trump administration as the “Donroe Doctrine”, seeking to exclude extra‑hemispheric powers from Latin America.
Given Asia’s central role in global growth and China’s significance to South American trade, the authors argue that the region must diversify its digital connections to reduce dependence on the United States and avoid vulnerability to political pressure. They highlight past efforts, such as Brazil’s EllaLink cable to Europe, as models for building infrastructure that bypasses U.S.‑controlled nodes. The two advocate for a strategy of Active Non‑Alignment, enabling South American states to maintain autonomy and engage with both major powers on their own terms.
They conclude that as South America sits at a geopolitical fault line, economically tied to China but digitally tethered to the U.S., the region must develop resilient, diversified connectivity to safeguard its strategic interests and preserve policy independence.
The full piece can be read 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.