As reported by Peruvian news reports, a prominent Chinese ally who is vying for the presidency in Peru went to California late last month to attend the handover of a shipment of trains supplied by the Biden administration.
According to Justo Medio, a Peruvian news outlet, Lima Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga was in California late last month to discuss the transfer of a group of CalTrain locomotives that were given to Lima by the United States government during the Biden administration. Lopez Aliaga is supposedly contemplating a bid for president of Peru in 2026.
According to a study by Nate Picarsic and Emily de La Bruyère, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Lopez Aliaga’s company, PeruRail, has “deep” financial ties to China. This is because PeruRail’s revenue has increased to over $65 million per year from shipments from Minera Las Bambas, a joint venture that is majority-backed by China Minmetals, a state-owned mining giant.
The article said that China has been trying to increase its mineral and battery supply gathering in South America by “cultivating” Lopez Aliaga for higher office in Peru. According to the article, Lopez Aliaga is even referred to as “China’s man in Peru.”
The study stated that Beijing now has “a powerful beachhead in Peru” because to China’s mining involvement in the country, which benefits López Aliaga directly.
It stated, “This leaves an influential Peruvian political leader aligned with and linked to China, its resource project, and the broader Belt and Road Initiative of which it is part.”
A large influx of Chinese capital has poured into South American countries, notably Peru, in recent years.
China reportedly put $1.3 billion on a huge deepwater port in Chancay, Peru, not far from Lima, as reported by NBC News.
During the 2024 port opening ceremony, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly proclaimed the facility the beginning of China’s maritime Silk Road for the 21st century.
Picarsic claims that China has been putting a lot of money into Lima’s infrastructure, especially its power sector, and that Lopez Aliaga is a “linchpin” in this Chinese supremacy.
Today, Picarsic said, “Looks like a telltale sign of China’s handiwork.” Lopez Aliaga may run for president of Peru.
Additionally, he criticized the United States’ contribution of railroads to Peru as being “too little, too late” in relation to the rising power of China in the area.
We’re bringing a bunch of old train cars that have been donated. However, this individual—who is secretly working with China—is planning to steal them and reroute them so that they run on Chinese rail, which would then feed into a Chinese port and assist in transporting products from a Chinese mine.
At the train-donation ceremony in Lima, Peru, last November, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke highly of the project, describing it as a chance to “strengthen the ties between Peru and the United States.” He went on to say that the trains “are not just a symbol, but the practical manifestation of possibilities – the possibilities that come when we connect to each other.”
“This agreement is a testament to the strength and durability of the U.S. and Peru’s longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship,” according to him. “I am so proud to have Caltrain be a member of that mutually beneficial relationship.”