Estados Unidos cerrará cinco consulados porque los críticos temen que China pueda llenar el vacío diplomático

The closures are the latest in a process of cutbacks overseen by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The closures are the latest in a process of cutbacks overseen by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images US to shut five consulates as critics fear China could fill diplomatic vacuum State department informs Congress of planned closures in Canada, Grenada, Japan, Indonesia and Cameroon The US state department is to shut five foreign consulates and missions across Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, drawing criticism that it is leaving a diplomatic vacuum at risk of being filled by China. The US Congress has been served notice of the impending closures, which are being justified on cost grounds and follow a reassessment of the US’s bilateral relationships with a range of countries since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. According to a notice served to several congressional committees, missions will close in St George’s, Grenada; Nagoya, Japan; Medan, Indonesia; Douala, Cameroon; and Winnipeg, Canada. The closures will continue a process of cutbacks in US state department operations overseen by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state. Last year, the department fired more than 1,300 employees, including 246 foreign services officers and 1,107 civil servants. More than half of the US’s 195 ambassadorial posts around the world remain unfilled, including in keys locations such as Germany, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, according to the American Foreign Service Association. Democrats have criticized the latest planned closures, saying it risked leaving the field free for China. “China has a diplomatic presence in three of the five locations where the state department is closing shop and Beijing is going to exploit that new vacuum to undercut American interests,” said Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee. “The yearly operating costs of these diplomatic facilities represent a tiny fraction of the state department’s yearly budget,” Shaheen added. “Is that worth pulling back from these places where China is present?” The decision to close the consulate in Winnipeg has come in for criticism in Canada, on which Trump recently announced the imposition of 50% tariffs on a range of goods. Opened in 2001, the Winnipeg consulate has served to facilitate trade and investment issues mainly relating to the province of Manitoba, of which Winnipeg is the capital. Brad Kirbyson, a former political specialist who worked at the consulate for 20 years, told the Canadian broadcaster CBC the closure could harm US interests. “I’m sure it’ll save them a few dollars, but I think the net effect is to lose touch with a broad swath of Canada by not having a presence there,” he said. “The United States found that it was a very long way between the US consulate in Calgary and the [one] in Toronto. “It makes a lot of sense to have a consulate in the middle of the country that can cover issues in this part of the world.” A spokesperson for the Canadian embassy in Washington said: “Canada and the US have a long history of collaboration on areas of shared interest, including through our foreign offices in both countries.” China does not have a diplomatic mission in Winnipeg, but it has a presence in St George’s, Nagoya and Medan. The US mission in St George’s, the capital of the Caribbean