How Latin America Can Make the Most of the US-China Competition As a theater for great power confrontation, Latin American states can leverage influence and shape relations with both powers. By December 16, 2020 Panama President Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez poses for photographers before an investment conference in Hong Kong on April 2, 2019. Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung Advertisement Their considerable economic potential and prospects for political alliances provide Latin American states with key elements that can alter the current power equilibrium. Together, through active engagement in regional multilateralism and by avoiding the trap of choosing between the United States and China, Latin American states can capitalize on these opportunities.