The Dragon and the Condor: China’s rise and Latin America’s developmental anxieties

In the present article, we aim to present a critical analysis of China’s rise to the position of global power in the international scenario focused on some related political inflexions in Latin America. Holding on a qualitative methodology, based on the analysis of primary and secondary sources, we argue that China’s rise and its growing presence in Latin America, mostly regarding commercial and financial flows and also infrastructural project, is reinforcing a neo-extractivist paradigm the new hegemonic model of development for the region. This process has been generating a series of social and environmental conflicts, providing us a space to discuss the ambivalence and the contradictions presented in Chinese discourse, which alludes to the establishment of a pacific world order that is committed to ecologic sustainability, win-win relations, and the harmonious development of the actors in the international scenario. This work will be critically oriented by some concepts presented in contemporary Latin American developmental thought. Some examples are neoextractivism, com-modity consensus and reprimarization. For us to better situate the discussion, some illustrative cases will be brought to the fore