For years, many corporate exits in Latin America have been described as a “prudence” exercise: selling subsidiaries, reducing debt, and focusing on “safe” markets. In Spain, the familiar story has been: Telefónica accelerating its withdrawal from the Hispam unit to divest operations in the region, and Iberdrola closing significant deals in Mexico—including the sale of 13 power plants for $6.2 billion.
But this financial diagnosis falls short when viewed through a technological lens. Because what’s reconfiguring isn’t just ownership stakes: it’s the physical and digital “stack” enabling a modern economy. And in a world of artificial intelligence, data centers, mass electrification, and strained supply chains, ceding parts of the “stack” is akin to losing control over levers of power.
The increasingly influential thesis in geopolitical and infrastructure analysis is simple: The West can call it “de-risking” in terms of divestment; but the operational reality resembles more of a power vacuum. And vacuums—in logistics, energy, data, and financing—rarely last long.
1) Hardware: Ports, Routes, and Operational Control (with software inside)
Logistics is no longer “just” logistics. A modern port is a cyber-physical system: sensors, predictive planning, automation, access control, flow analytics, and traceability. In short: hardware with critical software.
Within this layer, the megaport of Chancay (Peru)—driven by COSCO—has become a symbol of the new transpacific connectivity. Its infrastructure aims to shorten routes and establish a direct trade corridor to Asia, with real impacts on timing and costs. Reuters highlighted the qualitative leap this represents for trade between China and South America.
The competition for “the physical key” is also evident in the Panama Canal: buying and controlling terminals on both sides has become a top political and economic issue, involving multimillion-dollar deals and debates on neutrality and concentration.
Why does this matter from a tech perspective: whoever operates the logistics node sets standards for integration (systems, APIs, security), prioritizes routes, influences automation investments, and indirectly affects which industries can scale faster—from mining and agriculture to electronics and automotive.
2) The Battery: Lithium, Refining, and the Industrial Bottleneck
The energy transition and the AI boom share a common trait: they are voracious for materials, especially copper and lithium. Without lithium—and crucially, without refining capacity and supply chains—there are no batteries, and without batteries, large-scale electrification is impossible.
In the “Lithium Triangle” (Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia), Chinese presence manifests less as a headline and more as a mosaic of stakes, projects, and supply agreements.
- In Chile, Tianqi Lithium maintains a significant stake in SQM, one of the major lithium producers, closely monitored by regulators and markets.
- In Argentina, Ganfeng Lithium has been involved in production and expansion projects during a period of heightened strategic sensitivity around the resource’s importance.
- In Bolivia, various Chinese-participated consortia have pursued agreements to develop industrial capacity linked to lithium, as the country seeks to move from mineral to finished product.
The tech-critical insight: merely having lithium isn’t enough. The real advantage comes from controlling the entire supply chain: extraction, processing, cathode production, batteries, and manufacturing. Those who complete the cycle wield power over prices, pacing, and industrial dependence—and that influence extends to electric vehicles, stationary storage, and ultimately, energy resilience.
3) The Nervous System: Electric Grid… and Data Network
In the digital economy, the electricity grid and data network form a single system. Data centers—especially those oriented toward AI—transform energy into a product. Modernization of transmission, distribution, storage, and control becomes a strategic asset.
Chinese involvement in utilities and grids across Latin America has grown through purchases and control operations in multiple countries, motivated by profitability and industrial positioning.
- In Chile, State Grid is a major operator/owner of key distribution companies like CGE, which has been featured in international media in the context of incidents and blackouts.
- Also in Chile, the acquisition of Chilquinta by SGID (State Grid International Development) represented a clear step toward control of distribution infrastructure.
- In Peru, China Southern Power Grid agreed to buy Enel’s distribution assets, exemplifying the interest in local “plug-in” opportunities.
Adding to this electrical layer is the digital layer: submarine cables, backbones, clouds, satellites, and 5G. A recent example is the Humboldt cable, a long-distance connectivity project linked to Google to connect Chile and Australia, enhancing the international data route map.
What AI advances change: When a country seeks to attract cloud services, factories, advanced mining, or AI hubs, it needs stable energy and low-latency data. Those who finance and operate these components gain influence—not only economically but also normatively (security, audits, standards, interoperability).
4) Software: Money, Swaps, and “Alternative Rails”
The top layer of the “stack” isn’t just apps; it’s the financial operating system: how infrastructure is financed, in what currency trade is settled, which insurers cover risks, and which banks lend when markets are closed.
In Argentina, the prominence of swaps with China has been a key piece of the state’s toolkit during stressful times, with extensions and partial activations making international headlines.
Moreover, Reuters documented how China has increased credit lines and financial instruments in the region in recent years, alongside the need for capital in energy, transportation, and telecom sectors.
Tech perspective on this: When financing comes “packaged” (construction + supplier + financing + insurance), the recipient country isn’t just buying infrastructure—it’s buying dependency on an ecosystem. This can accelerate deployment but also sets standards, suppliers, and margins.
So… is this “bad” or “inevitable”?
It’s not an automatic moral judgment. For many Latin American countries, Chinese (and other actors’) investments have helped bridge infrastructure gaps. The key nuance lies in what is sold, with what clauses, what is retained, and how diversification is pursued.
The colder technological-financial assessment would be:
- If it’s “periphery” assets (non-critical businesses), risks are manageable.
- If nodes (ports, energy grids, telecom backbones, data hubs) are ceded, sovereignty is compromised.
- And if financing and insurance originate from the same source, the “lock-in” becomes more than just a metaphor.
Signals to watch for 2026: what companies and governments should monitor
- Mapping dependencies as if they were cloud dependencies: provider, substitutability, exit costs, SLA, and continuity risks.
- Standards and audits: It’s not enough that “it works”; how it’s audited, who updates it, and incident management matter.
- True dual sourcing in critical components: energy, connectivity, and logistics.
- Cyber-resilience of critical infrastructure: ports and power grids are high-value targets in tension scenarios.
- Avoid handing over the “control room”: even with external capital, maintaining operational governance and visibility reduces risk.
FAQs
What does it mean when a country “re-cables” itself technologically?
It changes who operates (or conditions) its critical infrastructure: energy, connectivity, ports, financing, and digital standards.
Why are ports so crucial in the AI economy?
Because AI accelerates the demand for hardware, energy, and raw materials. Ports determine costs, timelines, and priorities in supply chains.
Is lithium the decisive resource, or is refining more critical?
The bottleneck is often in processing and industrial supply chains (cathodes, batteries, manufacturing), not just in extraction.
How does monetary diversification (yuan, swaps) influence the tech sector?
It impacts infrastructure financing, procurement conditions, credit terms, and the ecosystems into which projects are integrated.
Source: Portal Financiero