In the first decade of the 21st century, Latin America received a lot of attention. Booming economies, stable liberal governments, a growing middle class, and infrastructure needs made it a promising destination for investments. However, with a few years of economic disappointment, the situation has changed. The North American Free Trade Agreement has proved disappointing for Mexican jobs, Brazilian protectionism has warded off Western hopefuls, while smaller countries like Chile seek to stand out as partners. .

China can set up peer-to-peer relationships with giants like Brazil and Argentina, while also becoming a partner of choice for the development of mining or energy in the likes of Peru. Its powerful development banks, its political willingness, and its experience in the developing world all make China a partner of choice for the region.

Latin America was riven by civil wars, regime changes, and escalating violence. The US was quick to stamp out any communist allegiances by fomenting revolt in the likes of Nicaragua and Panama. Apart from the failure to ever topple the Castro regime in Cuba, the US had long assumed that it could oversee the region uncontested.

This was a vision held in Washington since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which stated that any attempt by European nations to interfere or colonize any land in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression to be met with US resistance.

This dominance was embodied in the ubiquitous presence of the World Bank which, for years, was the leading lender to the region. Although a global institution by design, the World Bank's leadership is usually set by the US and it has often been accused of acting as an extension of US foreign policy goals. This reality is not necessarily a bad thing as the conditions attached to World Bank loans have helped countries like Chile or Brazil achieve greater standards of agricultural efficiency and human capital training.

However, the economic evolution of the region and the emergence of smaller yet ambitious markets like Chile and Colombia have led to a change in attitude. There is a feeling, somewhat justified, that World Bank loans come with a dose of lecturing or patronization that the countries can do without. This makes a marked contract from China's easy attitude to providing infrastructure loans.

Where World Bank criteria were once seen as international best practices to be copied, Latin American governments have come to see them as yokes they are shackled to. While Chinese loans are not without a reciprocal cost, usually paid in mineral wealth, their agility and breadth make them more appealing. Only 34 percent of World Bank loans in Latin America go to sectors starved for funds such as energy, mining, and infrastructure, while 87 percent of Chinese banks cater to these.

This is but one example of the drift of US influence in the region. As it got bogged down in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with its foreign policy goals clearly centered on the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific, Latin America toppled down the ranks of US priorities.

This lack of attention meant that US policy did not evolve with the times. While late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was certainly not a pleasant fellow, and while Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa have implemented firmly protectionist and anti-capitalist policies, they are not the same ilk as the communist leaders that spooked the US during the Cold War. Failure to understand this has only deepened mistrust of the US, which helped China to set itself up as an alternative partner of choice.

It is now up to China to manage these relations appropriately. It must seek to avoid the criticisms, mostly related to labor. Despite all the attempts of the press and various diplomats, China cannot let its actions in Latin America be constantly compared to those of the US.

Finally, it must accept and profit from the differences of the culturally varied and economically nuanced countries of the region. The financial instruments being created by Chile can be used to help strengthen the continent by being used to finance mining projects in Peru, infrastructure developments in Colombia, and development loans in Argentina.

If it is able to do this, China's arrival in Latin America will prove that our world is truly becoming multipolar. 

The author is editorial director of Mexico Business Publishing. opinion@globaltimes.com