China overtakes US in Latin Americans' positive view of regional influence

Fifty-nine percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of international affairs

For the first time since 1995, a majority of Latin Americans rate China’s influence in the region more positively than that of the United States, according to the 2026 Latinobarómetro report published Friday. The survey of 19,207 in-person interviews across 17 countries, conducted between May 7 and June 17, found 65% of respondents view China’s regional influence positively, compared with 57% who view U.S. influence the same way.

The result represents a sharp reversal from 2020, when the United States led China by 12 percentage points in positive assessments of regional influence. Since then, positive views of China’s influence have climbed to 65% from 48%, while positive views of U.S. influence have fallen to 57% from 60%. Negative perceptions have moved in the opposite direction: the share of Latin Americans who view China’s influence negatively dropped to 26% from 37%, while the share who view U.S. influence negatively rose to 37% from 28%.

Marta Lagos, director of Latinobarómetro and the polling firm MORI Chile, attributed the change to more than two decades of reduced U.S. attention to Latin America that opened space for other global powers. “More than two decades have passed in which Latin America learned to stand on its own and during which there was influence not only from China, but also from the European Union, Japan and other world powers that gradually filled the space the U.S. had left vacant,” Lagos said in an interview with El País. Lagos added that the United States is now advancing its Shield of the Americas initiative in a region that has become more independent and is increasingly frustrated by a lack of development. “Latin America is deeply distrustful, and it looks at China and its development with great admiration,” she said.

The region’s expanding trade ties with China have coincided with President Donald Trump’s efforts to strengthen Washington’s position in Latin America. Yet Latinobarómetro found that governments’ political alignment with the United States does not necessarily translate into more favorable public perceptions of U.S. influence.

The report’s country breakdowns illustrate the gap between government alignment and public sentiment. In Chile, Seventy percent of respondents view China’s influence positively, compared with 46% who say the same about the United States. China also leads in Peru, where 72% view its influence positively compared with 62% for the United States, and in El Salvador, where the figures are 72% and 64%, respectively. In Argentina, China leads 61% to 43%. Mexico shows the region’s most critical assessment of U.S. influence, with only 33% of respondents viewing it positively and 62% viewing it negatively. “The political orientation of the government is not necessarily related to the degree of influence that the U.S. and China have,” the report said.

China’s gains in the influence measure do not mean it has overtaken the United States in overall favorability. Sixty-three percent of Latin Americans hold a favorable view of the United States as a country, compared with 59% who view China favorably. The 2026 results show a distinction between respondents’ assessments of the two countries overall and their judgments of the roles they play in the region.

The generally favorable image of the United States coexists with widespread disapproval of Trump’s handling of international affairs. Fifty-nine percent of respondents disapprove of his approach, compared with 34% who approve. Fifty-five percent believe Trump’s policies will have a negative impact on the world.

Views of Trump do not necessarily determine opinions about specific U.S. actions. Sixty-nine percent of Latin Americans support the capture of Nicolás Maduro, but only 35% believe U.S. intervention benefits Venezuela, while 29% say it harms the country.

On governance, Latinobarómetro identified a tension between support for democracy and demand for stronger government action. Sixty-three percent of Latin Americans agree that “a little heavy-handed government is not a bad thing,” up from 59% in 1995. Latinobarómetro described the attitude as a persistent feature of the region’s political culture, even as Fifty-two percent of respondents across the region said democracy is preferable to any other form of government, while 74% said there can be no democracy without elections. Costa Rica illustrates the contrast, with 89% supporting a more heavy-handed approach, 63% saying democracy is preferable and 89% saying elections are essential to democracy.

The report links the appetite for stronger government action to concerns about public security. Seventy-nine percent of Latin Americans say organized crime holds a great deal or considerable power in their country, while 47% believe the region is losing the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking.