"China invests in mines, but the West should invest in minds," wrote Julio Armando Guzmán, a leading Peruvian political and academic voice, in a recent Foreign Affairs article on the importance and possible repercussions of expanding Chinese presence across the Western Hemisphere. Guzmán spoke with Eric Farnsworth, vice president of AS/COA, about China and Latin America relations in the latest Democracy Dialogues conversation.

Guzmán explains that China's investment in Latin America erodes democracy and institutions in the region. He poses the example of lending contracts growing across Latin America and how they lack transparency and force countries to repay China if they create a public policy that goes against Chinese interests. "The situation of Latin America right now is so sensitive... in terms of their finances that this is decreasing the degrees of freedom of ministers and authorities in general to make policy," says Guzmán.

Farnsworth and Guzmán also talk about actions the Western Hemisphere could take to better relations with Latin America. For example, Guzmán believes there should be a greater focus on the private sector rather than on governments in Latin America. "When you have a business partner, it is much more difficult to fight with him because there are other interests at stake," explains Guzmán.

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