Jorge Guajardo: September 16th, 2021

Sep 16, 2021

It has become commonplace to say that China has greatly improved its standing in Latin America since the start of the pandemic. After all, China has provided the majority of vaccines to Latin American countries, which allowed Beijing to project itself not only as a major economic partner, but as the region’s most trusted ally. However, if the Chinese influence is mostly transactional, can it be sustainable? What is reality and what is myth in the political leverage obtained by China in Latin America? What role does such leverage play in the growing global competition between China and the US?

Jorge Guajardo. Ambassador Jorge Guajardo is Senior Director at McLarty Associates, in Washington, DC where he provides strategic counsel and expertise on Latin America and China. He served for six years in Beijing as the Mexican Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (2007-2013). Prior to this, he was Consul General of Mexico to the US in Austin, Texas, and a Mexican congressional candidate in 2003. He previously served as Director of Communications for the Governor of Nuevo León, Mexico from 1997 to 2000. Ambassador Guajardo holds a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.