This chapter offers an analysis of the key features characterizing the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America, situating it within China’s broader infrastructure strategy in the region. To do so, the discussion explores the evolution of China’s engagement in Latin America over the past two decades, which has been delineated by a dramatic escalation of commercial and financial activities, transforming trade dynamics, investment flows and impacting geopolitical alliances. Conceptually, building on recent scholarship on the topic, the chapter re-activates core insights from dependency theory, arguing that Latin America remains embedded in a substantial ‘postcolonial’ condition of dependency on a global scale. By bridging historical and contemporary perspectives, the chapter sheds light on how structures of dependencies have endured despite shifting geo-economic and geopolitical configurations.