Latin-Caribbean alliance presents opening for China

As Latin American and Caribbean leaders meet in Mexico to discuss the creation of a new regional alliance that excludes the United States and Canada, there is an opportunity for China to seek more cooperation in the region, experts said.

The Group of Rio meeting that runs from Saturday to Tuesday in Playa del Carmen, a resort city on Mexico's Caribbean coast could see the creation of a new larger organization that adds Caribbean island nations to the existing Group of Rio 24-nation membership, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The Mexican-led initiative will exclude both the US and Canada, and observers believe it could eventually rival the 35-member Organization of American States (OAS), which includes the US and Canada, and which has been the principal forum for hemispheric issues during the past half century, the Financial Times reported.