Colombia Is (Finally) Getting on the Trains Train
Colombia must leverage both international markets and geopolitics to complete its ambitious railway plan.
Colombia must leverage both international markets and geopolitics to complete its ambitious railway plan.
More than seven years after President of China Xi Jinping first announced the Belt and Road—the People’s Republic’s signature twenty-first century foreign policy agenda—the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced this week that the White House would send a delegation of officials to Latin America to scout opportunities for possible infrastructure development projects to counter those of China.
Four years since social unrest gripped French Guiana, the territory has seen marginal improvements; nevertheless, many of the structural problems of the French département persist.
Brazil faces pressure from both the U.S. and China as it decides whether to accept the alluring, but potentially risky, opportunity to build out its national 5G technology with Huawei, a major industry provider of the service.
Guyana’s economy is projected to grow by 26 percent in 2020, but the country will need more than just money alone to affect much needed changes in governance frameworks, inhuman capital, and transparency.
Guyana’s recent oil windfall has been well-documented, but successfully harnessing the opportunity it brings will require a combination of transparency, institutional management, and infrastructure changes.
Latin America has the unique opportunity to use the COVID-19 pandemic to reshape its cities into more equitable communities. How they do this will be imperative for the future of the region.
The U.S. can both balance Chinese influence and help Latin American governments address environmental and social concerns by investing in the “soft” side of the infrastructure boom.
Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the BRICs) were first grouped together in 2001 as the countries most likely to produce rapid economic growth (South Africa joined in 2010). Today another phenomenon binds the BRICS together: corruption scandals that have hit state-funded infrastructure companies and the projects they’ve overseen.
The World Bank annual meeting in Lima, Peru this weeks offers a unique opportunity. While China’s massive investments in infrastructure are much-needed, they come with huge risks. The World Bank can reduce those by working with these new efforts—with all their capital—to apply the Bank’s experience in protecting the environment and local communities.