Brazil maintains a sensitive balancing act at the center of a crucial diplomatic nexus with the US and China. If employed shrewdly, the intermediate position Brazil finds itself in could strengthen its hand in its relations with the two superpowers.

Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been described as a South American Donald Trump. Will he turn on China?

While international media focuses on Brazil’s mass demonstrations against corruption, efforts behind the façade precipitate regime change, restoration of a pre-Lula order, and a struggle against the BRICS nations. The U.S. feels threatened by an era of multipolarity, which deeply implicates China, and other emerging economies.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised $50 billion in funding for a trans-oceanic railroad from Peru to Brazil, which politicians in Latin America have been dreaming to build for decades. However, an unforgiving geography and political disputes could prove challenging.

Trade between Brazil and China has flourished over the past decade. However, the current trade relationship may be disrupted as Brazil recognizes the benefits of adding value along its supply chain, giving way to more opportunities for the United States to build upon its economic relationship with Latin America’s largest emerging market.

Even though the Western media attacks it as a form of Chinese neo-colonialism, the China-Africa relationship has in the past decade moved steadily and rapidly forward despite interferences.