Latin America increasingly looks to China for trade

The Trump administration has embarked on a major public relations offensive to counter China’s growing influence in Latin America. But, so far, the U.S. effort is failing miserably.

Earlier this week, a new survey by the CADEM polling firm in Chile — one of the closest U.S. allies in Latin America —showed that 77 percent of Chileans have a positive image of China, whereas only 61 percent have a positive image of the United States.

The same is happening in several other Latin American countries. From Mexico to Argentina, Peru to Venezuela, public opinion for China outranks that…