This is part of a much larger project, including five different routes connecting different parts of South America with the Pacific Ocean in what is called the “South American Integration and Development Routes Project”, as Brazil plans new Amazon routes linking the Pacific & China’s New Silk Road.

A major reason for the planned highways (and railways) through the Amazon rainforest is the the Port of Chancay in Peru. It was developed by Cosco Shipping Ports Chancay Perú S.A. This is corporation made up by Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics company COSCO Shipping Ports in association with the Peruvian company Volcan, but is controlled by the Chinese government.

Critics argue that this undermines Peru’s sovereignty as they warn the Chinese-Backed Port in Peru Could Push the Amazon Rainforest Over the Edge,

For China, the port delivers a strategically direct route for the critical minerals and agricultural commodities coming off the continent, and in the other direction, a more expedient channel for its cars, machinery and electronics to stream into South American markets … But environmental scientists and forestry experts warn that the economic pull of the port will speed the destruction of the Amazon, the planet’s most critical, climate-stabilizing terrestrial ecosystem …

The pressure could push the rainforest over the edge, transforming it from the world’s largest terrestrial carbon sink into a massive emitter of planet-warming gases. Some research suggests the forest is already at or near this potentially catastrophic tipping point.

“China wants everything in the Amazon,” said Julia Urrunaga, director of Peru programs for the Environmental Investigation Agency, an international nonprofit that investigates environmental crimes. “And in one way or another, all these routes are connected to the port.”