Cuba, China's Caribbean backyard

In recent years, the intervention and settlement of China's communist doctrines in the Caribbean area have been remarkable. Cuba is one of its faithful allies in the region, and has become, to the concern of experts and nearby nations, the Asian giant's backyard.

Cooperation in military logistics, economic aid and the installation of Chinese bases of operations on the island are some of the warnings that have drawn the eyes of the international community on the relationship between the two nations.

There are also concerns that cuts (83%) to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), imposed by the Administration of President Donald Trump since he took office in January, could weaken US influence in the Caribbean, leaving room for Chinese meddling.

China's growing influence in LATAM and the Caribbean

China, the major geopolitical rival of the United States, has seen its economy boom in recent decades.

China's trade and investment with Central America and the Caribbean has also expanded rapidly. It is the region's second largest trading partner and has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with five countries in the area.

Bilateral trade saw significant growth from $261.288 billion in 2012 to $489.047 billion in 2023. During the first three quarters of 2024, the volume of bilateral trade reached $427.4 billion, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

China's power and entry into the region's economies have multiplied by 35 since 2000, says a report by the Commission.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee identified major Chinese projects in the region that would establish its dominance and presence in strategic points. These include the development of a $3 billion deep water port in Grand Bahama, just 88 kilometers from the US mainland, and a $600 million investment to upgrade the Dominican Republic's electrical grid.

According to Forbes, China is financing $2.1 billion worth of projects in Jamaica and $773 million in Suriname.

By 2022, ten Caribbean countries had joined the Beijing Belt and Road Initiative, a major Chinese economic program that critics have called a "Trojan horse" for its geopolitical ambitions: Cuba, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

While China and its companies have primarily commercial objectives, Beijing is keeping a close eye on the broader strategic picture.

Chinese bases of operations in Cuba

A latest report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) revealed that China may be using at least four Cuban sites to gather intelligence on the United States and its neighbors.

CSIS studied a dozen sites of interest through satellite imagery and open source analysis and identified that several facilities scattered across the island, and located in Bejucal, in Mayabeque; the Wajay and Calabazar, in Havana; as well as El Salao, in Santiago de Cuba, have high probabilities of being used by China.

The document explains that these sites have received improvements in recent years.

Cuba's geographic position makes it "a strategic location for collecting signals intelligence (SIGINT) in the region. Less than 100 miles south of Florida, the island is well positioned to monitor sensitive communications and activities, including those of the US military," the study argues. The Cuban regime also has experience spying for other allies.

The Bejucal base, located in the west, is the largest site reviewed by CSIS scholars. In 1962 it was relevant during the Missile Crisis and currently has five entrances to subway facilities, built between 2010 and 2019.

The others, although smaller in size, are also equipped with equipment such as terrestrial and parabolic antennas, solar farms and security fences, among other data shared by the researches of the Center for Studies.

Cuba and China have denied the existence of these bases of operations in Caribbean territory on more than one occasion.

Senior Cuban regime officials have said on the matter that it is nothing more than a "legend" that began to appear in articles in June 2023. However, after the exposure of documents that would prove Chinese operations on the island, there were meetings of high-ranking officials of the Asian country with the leaders of the Cuban dictatorship in Havana.

Cuba's debt with China adds up to billions of dollars

Although the figures Beijing allocates for "development aid" remain secret, the CWM research reconstructed the approximate amount by examining 13,427 projects in 165 countries over 18 years, worth $843 billion.

Years ago China already wrote off part of a larger debt that existed from the island, however, the figure is still astronomical.

Despite this, the Chinese communist regime continues to send support to the generators that sustain Cuba's weakened electrical system. Beijing will finance the installation of photovoltaic parks in Cuban territory, Cuban authorities confirmed.

It also gives "support" to the programs of computerization of the Cuban society, food donations and palliatives for other first order needs requested and always "appreciated" by the high officials of the regime.