The China Mail - Strength in numbers: Latin America urges unity in face of Trump tariffs

The calls for unity of purpose were made in Honduras at a meeting of the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), also attended by China -- seeking to replace the United States as the main political and economic influence in the region.

Eleven CELAC heads of state attended the deliberations, including leftist leaders Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico -- Latin America's biggest economies -- as well as Colombia's Gustavo Petro and host Xiomara Castro.

"We cannot continue walking separately when the world is reorganizing," Castro said as the talks got underway in the capital Tegucigalpa.

"The United States is redrawing its economic map without asking which peoples are left behind," she said.

Sheinbaum, for her part, said economies in the region must diversify their markets and focus more on "integration and helping each other."

Trump's tariffs on imports of non-US products, some of them suspended and altered numerous times, threaten economic disruption for CELAC economies.

Mexico is the United States' biggest trading partner while Brazil is its second-biggest provider of steel.

And while Washington is increasingly seen as a volatile associate, China has been making inroads in the region.

Two-thirds of Latin American countries have joined President Xi Jinping's trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure program, and China has surpassed the United States as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru and Chile, among others.

In Honduras, a Chinese delegation led by Qu Yuhui, Beijing's number two for Latin American Affairs, has been holding bilateral meetings with CELAC delegates since Monday -- including envoys from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba.

Beijing also plans to host a China-CELAC ministerial conference on May 13, to be attended by Xi.

"China is set to increase its influence in Latin America; it is a gift from the United States," Peruvian international relations analyst Francisco Belaunde told AFP.

"China wants to appear now as a reliable partner that is in favor of free trade, it wants to take advantage of the mess generated by Trump and the annoyance of all countries over these tariffs," he added.

B.Chan--ThChM