17. I was talking to one of my co-workers at my school that just got back from the Central American Region. While visiting she observed the banking patterns, the changes in the economy and Chinese are becoming the lenders of choice, due to the ease to do business with the Chinese lending companies. There are some advantages to the trading relationships between the Central American countries and China, but in the process it seems that the lending practices are far more profitable for in China, given that Latino-American countries need the capital and in exchange China gains access to their raw materials and finite natural resources. The Central American countries are essentially using their natural resources as collateral and mortgaging their future. The article below provides some talking points on the present economic state of the Central American region and their financial/trading relationship with China.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/10/15/as-the-u-s-sleeps-china-conquers-latin-america/
"Step aside, EU! China is set to become Latin America’s second-largest trading partner in two years. And 13 years later it will be king of the hill according to the journal China Policy Review… The costs to the U.S. are obvious. It’s no exaggeration to say Latin American trade is critical to our survival as an economic superpower. “As recently as 2006, America was the larger trading partner for 127 countries, versus just 70 for China,” noted an article in RT.com. “By 2011, the situation had changed drastically: 124 countries for China, 76 for the US.”…Part of that plan is strategic loans, generating good will that Beijing then uses to leverage favorable agreements. Between just 2008 and 2012, China lent over $80 billion to Latin American countries, according to the Global Economic Governance Initiative. Since 2009, Chinese loans to Latin America have exceeded those of both the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank."
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