This chapter aims to introduce an aspect that is mentioned, though not elaborated upon, by the proponents of Active Non-Alignment (ANA). For the proponents of the ANA, in the case of Latin America, it is not just a question of

In summary, the ANA refers in scope and subject to multiple aspects that include, although they transcend, the main protagonists of the current power shift: the United States and China.

The intention of this chapter is to emphasize that the treatment of Latin America’s relationship with Beijing and Washington should be more specific. And for this purpose, the relevance of considering both the opportunities and the restrictions of deploying equidistance diplomacy (ED) is set forth. The concept of equidistance refers to being at an equal distance from two points or parts. The notion of equidistance is associated with that of eclecticism, a perspective not associated with certain axioms. Equidistance does not imply, at least in politics, exact symmetry. There may be equidistant behavior in a situation of disparity. The disparity makes a difference. In this case, for foreign policy purposes and for historical, geographical, political, and cultural reasons, the United States and China are not at the same distance from Latin America. The various links with the United States have had and still have a very different specific weight from those that the region has with the great Asian power.