Remember “no blood for oil”? Decades ago, the slogan emblematized opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Its logic subsequently shifted as the United States experienced a gas and oil revolution thanks to fracking.
It has cycled back into relevance following the Trump administration’s invasion of Venezuela and the seizure of its oil, which, despite its carnivalesque tone, left at least 80 people dead. The Iran war has now ...
Category: Infrastructure
What’s Behind the Submarine Cables Tying Up Chile’s Presidential Transition
A political transition is underway in Chile this week. President-elect José Kast will be sworn in on Wednesday, and Chile’s long-standing commercial relationship with China will be put to the test. Just days before the inauguration, a dispute about a ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
The Chinese Cable That Could Trip up Chile’s New Leader
By Paulina ABRAMOVICH Chile's new president, Jose Antonio Kast, faces a tough choice in his first weeks in office. Will he bow to U.S. pressure to nix a project to link China and Chile ...
China’s COSCO Shipping Suspends Operations at Panama’s Balboa Port, La Prensa Says
China's COSCO Shipping has suspended operations at Balboa port, which is located at the entrance to the Panama Canal, according to local newspaper La Prensa, which published a notice to clients from the shipping and logistics conglomerate. Balboa is one of the ...
Tanzanian Startup’s Dual Approach With China’s Geely, Dongfeng to Accelerate EV Adoption
A small Tanzanian start-up is teaming up with Chinese automakers in an attempt to do something that has proved difficult for e-mobility ventures: building a foothold in the electric vehicle business. The company, Jenga Taifa Pamoja Auto Limited, is partnering with, ...
Panama Officials Search CK Hutchison’s Local Office as Tensions Rise
Panamanian authorities searched the local ports unit of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, the subsidiary said on Friday, escalating a rift over control of two key ports near the globally strategic Panama Canal. The search, carried out on Thursday, comes amid ...
The Three Faces of Chinese Investment in Southeast Asia: SOEs, POEs, and MNEs
In 2025, China remained a top-three source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Southeast Asia, following only the U.S. and intra-Southeast Asian flows. While much of the investment falls under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it is important to distinguish between broad ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Ethiopia’s EV Surge as African Countries Push Local E-Mobility
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. Electric vehicle (EV) adoption sometimes feels like a see-saw, with some weeks showing progress and others regression. The reality is ...
The Paradox of Panama’s “Rule of Law”: Hutchison Ports vs. Minera Panama
In the wake of the forced transition at the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal, Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha sent a clear message to the international community: Panama is a country of legal certainty, and the government is "simply respecting a Supreme Court ruling" regarding the ouster ...
Panama Wrests Control of Canal Ports From Hong Kong Group
Panamanian authorities took control of two ports on the Panama Canal from CK Hutchison on Monday after the Hong Kong-based conglomerate’s concession was annulled amid a row between the United States and China. The court ruling was the latest legal development affecting ...
Panama Wrests Control of Canal Ports From Hong Kong Group
Panamanian authorities took control Monday of two ports on the Panama Canal from CK Hutchison after the Hong Kong-based conglomerate's concession was annulled amid a row between the United States and China. "The Panama Maritime Authority has taken possession of its ...
Panama and the New U.S. Strategy to Counter China in Latin America
The Panama Supreme Court’s ruling against Hutchison Ports in late January was not merely an isolated legal event; it was the successful proof-of-concept for a new geopolitical weapon. What appears on the surface to be a dispute over contracts from ...
U.S. Warns Peru Over Chinese-Built Chancay Port as Exports Hit Record
The Trump administration warned Peru that the Chinese-built Port of Chancay risks undermining the country’s sovereignty, escalating U.S. pressure over Beijing’s growing infrastructure footprint in Latin America.
Can Africa Win as the West and China Scramble for Minerals?
By Clyde Russell Two multi-billion-dollar rail projects in Africa. One headed west, the other east. One backed by Western countries, the other by China. Both are aiming to ship vast quantities of critical minerals. Welcome to the new scramble for Africa. ...