China is perceived more positively as a global influence than the United States in Latin America, according to a new regional survey, in a first since the poll began in 1995.
The 2026 Latinobarometro survey published on Friday found that 65 percent of respondents in 17 countries saw China as a positive influence. That was compared with 57 percent who said the same of the US.
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Support for China has risen sharply since 2020, when 48 percent of respondents viewed its influence positively. The figure for the US has fallen from 60 percent over the same period.
Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic were the only countries surveyed where respondents viewed US influence more positively than China’s.
Latinobarometro, a Chile-based nonprofit organisation, conducts annual surveys across the region on issues including democracy, the economy, security and migration.
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The findings come during US President Donald Trump’s second term, as his administration has sought to strengthen Washington’s influence in Latin America, particularly through exercising more military might.
That has included conducting strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the region, which rights groups have decried as extrajudicial killings, and abducting Venezuela’s then-leader Nicolas Maduro in Brazil.
Trump has described his approach as the “Donroe Doctrine”.
Despite the findings on global influence, the US remained more popular than China when respondents were asked about their overall views of the two countries.
Some 63 percent of respondents said they had a favourable opinion of the US, compared with 58 percent for China. The US figure was down from 73 percent in 2024.
The survey also asked respondents about the US military capture of Maduro.
A majority in all but one country, Argentina, approved of Maduro’s capture by US forces.
Views were more divided over what the operation meant for Venezuela, with 35 percent saying removing Maduro had benefitted the country and 28 percent saying it had harmed it.
Venezuelans were among the populations most likely to view US influence positively, according to the survey.
The 2026 survey was based on about 19,200 face-to-face interviews conducted in 17 countries between May 7 and June 17, with a margin of error of 1 percent.
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