New Delhi, Jan 3 (TIWN) Chinese Communist Party officials have unveiled an "action plan for cooperation" with Latin American countries that amounts to a "comprehensive" plan to influence the region and threaten US interests, following a new summit with the nearest neighbours of the US, Washington Examiner reported.

Chinese officials outlined their ambitions following a summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. This intergovernmental forum was launched in 2011 under the auspices of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who wanted a venue to rival the Organization of American States and challenge U.S. influence in Latin America, and it now stands to furnish Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping with a platform to gather a coalition of leftist and authoritarian leaders congenial to Beijing’s interests.  “The Chinese Communist Party and government are actively looking to strengthen their ties throughout the Western Hemisphere, in particular with anti-American elements,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a senior Senate Intelligence Select Committee Republican, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Beijing is seeking to surpass the United States in every sector, and we must take this threat seriously.”