China’s influence in Latin America is now seen more positively than that of the United States, a major poll conducted in 17 Latin American countries showed on Friday.
The 2026 Latinobarometro survey showed China overtaking the United States in influence for the first time since the annual survey began in 1995.
It showed that 57 percent of people in Latin America view the United States as a positive influence, up from 60 percent in 2020.
China, meanwhile, is seen as a positive influence by 65 percent of respondents, up from 48 percent six years ago.
Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic were the only countries in the region where American influence was seen as more positive than that of China.
The report attributes this shift in part to Washington’s “almost total absence” from the region in the two decades following the 2003 Iraq War.
During this period, Latin America “has moved closer to other powers, to China, to the European Union, to Japan”, Marta Lagos, director of Latinobarometer, explains to AFP.
Lagos said China had won over Latin American populations by giving them access to cheaper imports.
“The void that China is filling is the void in people’s pockets, more than anything else,” she said.
The growing disaffection with the United States comes almost halfway through Trump’s second term, during which he has openly asserted his desire for hegemony over Latin America, under what he calls the “Donroe Doctrine.”
— Popularity plummets in the United States —
As a country, the United States remains more popular than China, with 63% of respondents saying they have a favorable view of the world’s largest economy, compared to 58% for its main rival.
But America’s popularity is down significantly from 2024, when Democratic President Joe Biden was in the White House and 73% of respondents had a favorable view of the United States.
The “Donroe Doctrine” mixes Trump’s first name with that of James Monroe, the fifth American president, who declared more than two centuries ago that Latin America was the exclusive sphere of influence of the United States.
Trump’s efforts to restore American dominance in what Washington calls “our hemisphere” were highlighted in January when the United States toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Latinobarometro poll showed that a majority of people in all but one country — Argentina — approved of Maduro’s capture by U.S. special forces.
But only 35 percent say it benefits Venezuela, compared to 28 percent who say it harms the Caribbean country.
Citizens of Venezuela itself, however, were among those who viewed American influence most positively.
Latinobarometro, based in Chile, is a non-profit organization that collects opinions on a range of issues, from democracy and the economy to security and migration.
The 2026 survey was based on some 19,200 face-to-face interviews conducted in 17 countries between May 7 and June 17, with a margin of error of 1%.
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