"Colombia's president: China ahead of US in strategic infrastructure bidding, calls for securing 5G networks", Fox News reported an exclusive interview with Mr. Iván Duque Márquez, President of Colombia on June 3 (local time).
According to the report, Iván Duque Márquez urged the US to bid for strategic infrastructure together with China in Latin America. He compared the two nations and said the US lags far behind China in the strategic infrastructure construction, and made it clear that "he does not think" China's investment in Latin America is a "threat".
China has a growing sense of presence in the eyes of Colombia, a firm ally of the United States, which obviously makes the US anxious. Colombia is geologically too close to the United States. Colombia is less than four hours’ flight from Miami, a famous tourist city in the United States. Moreover, since 2017, Colombia has been a close partner of NATO.
As things should be, such a country is not intimate towards China at all, as it has to take its cue from the US. However, this situation seems to be changing, and such change will certainly be greater and greater in the future.
The metro project is under construction at the 72nd Street in Bogota, the capital of Colombia. Colombian designers started the work for the metro project as early as 1950s, because local people needed their own metro line. Nevertheless, building a metro line was not easy. The line is expected to be completed till 2028, and it is one of the most important infrastructure projects and will facilitate the life of local people and economic development.
More importantly, the project was undertaken by a state-owned Chinese enterprise. Historically, Colombia had to maintain a low-key relationship with China, but things have changed in 2018. President Iván Duque Márquez took office in that year and openly "showed his kindness" to China. We know that the “Belt and Road” has been accepted by many countries. Although Colombia is a firm ally of the United States, it has embarked on some projects, which can be well suited with China's the Belt and Road initiative.
Moreover, Colombia maintains a low-key style in terms of cooperation with Chinese enterprises, as usual. For example, as we mentioned earlier, a Chinese enterprise has undertaken the metro project in downtown Bogota, but many project bulletins keep mouth shut about this Chinese consortium. When it's time to keep a low profile, we must keep a low profile. What China likes to do is also practical, but now there must be a sense of presence in Colombia.
Since the ruling era of Mr. Iván Duque Márquez, although Colombia has to consider the moods of the United States, it is aware that it needs to go hand in hand with China to go forward.
There will be another round of elections in Colombia on June 19, and public opinion now shows that the left-wing candidate will win. This is definitely not good news for the United States, because if the candidate of the party becomes the president of Colombia, it will reshape relations with the United States. In other words, Colombia will go farther and farther away from the United States, and closer and closer to China.
