With annual trade between China and Latin America reaching almost US$ 486 billion in 2022 – which is almost an eight percent increase from the previous year – Beijing has already become one of the top trading partners of this region. During the Belt and Road Initiative Forum held last month in China, 26 new agreements worth US$6.32 billion were signed. China, in short, has secured a deep footprint in the US backyard, turning the Monroe doctrine – which said that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americans would be considered…