Colombia's government has applied to join a China-based development bank, another sign of Latin America's drift away from the U.S. as the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, trade barriers and crackdown on immigration spurs many leaders in the region to seek closer ties with Washington's geopolitical rival .
Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrapped up a visit to China this week with a stop in Shanghai, where he met with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff , the head of the New Development Bank.
The multilateral lender was set up a decade ago as a project of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - the so-called BRICS nations of major developing markets - as a counter to U.S.-dominated institutions like the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.
To date, the New Development Bank has approved loans for 122 infrastructure projects totaling more than 40 billion in areas such as transport, sanitation and clean energy, according to Rousseff.
Petro, speaking to reporters in China on Saturday, said that Colombia is committed to purchasing 512 million worth of shares in the bank. He said t hat he was especially excited by the possibility of securing the New Development Bank's support for a 120-kilometer 75-mile canal, or railway, connecting Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific Ocean coastlines that he said would position the country at the "heart" of trade between South America and Asia.