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Yes. A 2026 Latinobarómetro poll, as reported by AFP in Al Jazeera on October 2, found that 65% of respondents across 17 Latin American countries viewed China’s global influence positively, compared with 57% for the United States. That measures perceptions of each country’s influence—not whether people like one country more overall.

What the poll found

The 2026 figures reported by AFP/Al Jazeera put China eight percentage points ahead of the United States on positive global influence: 65% to 57%. The report says this was the first time China ranked ahead on that measure since Latinobarómetro began the poll in 1995. That historical description is attributable to the report; the detailed 2026 tables were not available in the reported material.

The report also gives a longer-term comparison: in 2020, 48% viewed China’s influence positively and 60% viewed US influence positively. Those figures are historical values cited in the 2026 report, not a separate 2020 publication being compared here.

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Influence is not the same as favorability

The 2026 report gives a different result when the question is overall opinion of each country: 63% had a favorable opinion of the United States, versus 58% for China. So the poll’s reported figures do not show that respondents liked China more overall. They show that more respondents regarded China’s global influence positively than regarded US influence positively, while overall country favorability still leaned toward the United States.

Earlier Latinobarómetro figures should not be treated as a trend line for the influence question unless they measure that same concept. Its 2024 report recorded favorable opinion of the United States at 73% regionally and favorable opinion of China at 54%. Those are country-favorability measures, not earlier readings of the 2026 global-influence question.

Where the poll was conducted

According to AFP/Al Jazeera, the poll involved about 19,200 face-to-face interviews in 17 countries, conducted from May 7 through June 17, 2026. The report states a 1% margin of error, but the accessible account does not explain whether that figure applies to the regional aggregate or separately to each country. It should not be read as a clearly specified per-country precision estimate.

The regional result was not universal across the countries surveyed. Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic were the only countries in which the report says US influence was viewed more positively than China’s. That country-level exception does not change the aggregate comparison, but it shows why a regional average should not be applied to every nation.

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What the results can—and cannot—tell us

The reported figures establish a difference in survey responses, not its cause. They do not by themselves explain why perceptions shifted, whether respondents were reacting to particular policies or events, or how strongly they held their views. The comparison also depends on the question wording and survey methods, details that are not provided in the accessible account of the 2026 findings.

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Latinobarómetro is a Santiago-based nonprofit that produces and publishes regional survey data. Its official materials include reports, datasets, questionnaires and online analysis resources. The organization’s 2026 announcement confirms the report’s release, but the detailed tables and technical documentation are needed to independently assess the reported figures, country coverage, weighting and margin-of-error calculation.

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