CCP Poised to Expand Security Footprint In Latin America With New Port In Argentina
_Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/analysis-ccp-poised-to-expand-security-footprint-in-latin-america-with-new-port-in-argentina_5376143.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge) (emphasis ours),_
**China’s rapidly expanding military and surveillance initiatives across Latin America have become more than just a thorn in the side of Washington.**
\_A building with The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) logo is seen in Buenos Aires on Nov. 26, 2018. (Marcos Brindicci/Reuters)_ (
)In Argentina’s southern tip, Tierra del Fuego, on June 5, Governor Gustavo Melella greenlit a”multi-purpose” Chinese-operated port facility through decree 3312/22, which entered the provincial legislature the same day. The country currently houses a Chinese military-run facility operating in the remote Neuquén Province.
Final approval is still needed from the national government and the undersecretary of ports, waterways, and merchant Marine to move forward.
**The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-affiliated company involved in the port facility is Shaanxi Chemical Industry Group**. Though civilian on the surface, the U.S. State Department expressed (https://2017-2021.state.gov/u-s-investors-are-funding-malign-prc-companies-on-major-indices/index.html) concern over Beijing’s prioritization of “military-civilian fusion,” a state strategy that forces Chinese companies to share technology and assets with the CCP military.
In the agreement signed by Melella, it states, “The smooth construction of the project will be exemplary for the investment of Chinese companies in southern Argentina.”
In March, top U.S. military officers, including U.S. Southern Command Gen. Laura Richardson, warned that China’s “aggressive” expansion in Latin America isn’t some long-term threat to U.S. interests and security.
**It’s happening right now.**
“The PRC \[People’s Republic of China\] has expanded its ability to extract resources, establish port, manipulate governments through predatory investment practices, and build potential dual-use space facilities,” Ms. Richardson said during a March 8 House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Like-minded security analysts and a former Argentine government official have expressed similar concerns over potential military and surveillance applications of China’s new port being built in the town of Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego.
Ideally situated near the Straights of Magellan, a CCP port facility in Rio Grande offers direct access—and potential control—over the world’s second most important shipping lane between the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
Secondary Benefits
Cuba is a good lens for understanding how CCP projects with Latin American governments typically unfold.
Interstingly, the Rio Grande project was approved a week before The Wall Street Journal published a story discussing China’s “Project 141” initiative—the regime’s blueprint for how it intends to grow a global military and logistical support network.
One of the projects identified was a joint China-Cuba spy facility near Havana. The Biden administration later confirmed (https://www.theepochtimes.com/biden-administration-confirms-chinese-spy-base-in-cuba-shifts-blame-to-trump_5328786.html) the existence of a Chinese spy base operating in Havana since 2019.
“I believe there is an integral alliance at all levels between the CCP regime and the Castro-Canel regime. We know training is taking place. It’s documented,” regional analyst and author Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat told The Epoch Times.
Military and surveillance cooperation between China and Cuba isn’t anything new, but Mr. Gutiérrez-Boronat believes a deeper level of security engagement between the two nations offers a means of helping Cuba’s communist government a way to hold fast to its faltering grip on power.
“ **We know that Chinese companies quickly acted to cut internet access in Cuba during the popular uprising of July 11, 2021,**” he said, adding, “ **I think the regime seeks the Chinese presence in order to guard itself from its own people.**”
\_People wave Cuban and PRC flags as several Chinese Navy vessels enter the port of Havana on Nov. 10, 2015. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)_ (https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/id5374883-GettyImages-496509392-600x3…
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ccp-poised-expand-security-footprint-latin-america-new-port-argentina