Link to article- https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-names-honduran-guatemalan-lawmakers-corrupt-list-2021-05-18/
The United States government recently released a list of 17 corrupt Central American politicians, and the release of this list ultimately prompted El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to sign an agreement with China. President Bukele went to twitter claiming that the list was more about “geopolitics” than it was about combating corruption. He also offered praise to China for their $500 million investment in public investments in El Salvador. China also supported El Salvador with 500,000 doses of their Covid vaccine. With this new relationship between El Salvador and China, China will be able to establish more of a presence in the Western Hemisphere. China has used their development of a Covid-19 vaccine to fill a gap that the United States previously held, which is that of helping poorer nations. Honduras is now asking El Salvador for help due to a thereof by the United States.
With how China is expanding to Central America and a lack of support in that region from the United States right now, it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple years when Covid-19 is less prevalent. Right now, China seems to be using their vaccine to establish themselves in the Western Hemisphere, but I’m sure its relationship with the Central American countries will only continue to expand. El Salvador is merely one of the first examples of Chinese expansion of influence to the Western Hemisphere.
In relation to class, as the United States remains the lone superpower, this expansion by China now goes to show that we may be living in a world where both the United States and China are the world superpowers. If the United States chooses to respond to this expansion, it would most likely take a lot for them to remain the lone superpower of the world. Within the next five years I think it is very likely that China will be joining the United States on top of the world stage.