Ports, the Panama Canal, and Strategic Support Points

This chapter examines how Chinese engagement in ports across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has transformed the region into an important arena in global maritime competition. Using the Panama Canal controversy and the expansion of Chinese-operated terminals at Balboa and Cristóbal as a point of departure, it analyzes contemporary debates through the lens of classical maritime theory – from Alfred Thayer Mahan&s;s concept of strategic chokepoints to China&s;s modern notion of “strategic support points.” The chapter traces the evolution of Chinese global port expansion, from early projects in Mauritania to Belt and Road flagship investments such as Chancay in Peru and Paranaguá in Brazil. It distinguishes between construction, financing, and operational control, highlighting how firms like COSCO, China Merchants Port, and CHEC have embedded themselves in critical nodes of hemispheric trade. While many LAC governments and writers view Chinese port investment as an economic lifeline (complex interdependence) – reducing logistics costs and boosting exports – US and other Western writers warn of dual-use risks, data vulnerabilities, and potential leverage in a crisis, particularly regarding the Panama Canal (realism). Still others point out the concern of companies from such an large power having so much control over the maritime “lungs” of a country (dependency theory). Ultimately, the chapter argues that ports serve as both engines of development and instruments of geopolitical influence in an era of intensifying great-power rivalry.