Margaret Myers, director of the Asia & Latin America Program at the Inter-American Dialogue: “China and Honduras will likely strike some form of free trade agreement in the coming months, just as Nicaragua did at the beginning of this year. This agreement will no doubt increase total bilateral trade. However, in Central America, at least, these agreements have tended to mostly increase Chinese imports while marginally boosting exports to China. Even with an FTA in hand, Central American countries face stiff competition with Southeast Asia for space in the Chinese market. Trade aside, deals between Honduras and China have been relatively slow to materialize, even though the countries reportedly struck an agreement on education-related infrastructure development in March. For the Honduran government, it was the prospect of China-backed hydroelectric projects that motivated the decision to cut ties with Taiwan in 2023. Support for those projects doesn’t appear to be…”