India, March 7 -- The US imposed travel bans on three Chilean officials over the possible construction of a submarine fiber optic cable with China, while warning Peru against ceding control over a Chinese-built mega port.

Under pressure from President Donald Trump, who had threatened to take the Panama Canal back under US control, the Panamanian Government seised two ports at either end of the canal that had been run by a Hong Kong company. And when the US captured Venezuela's then-President Nicolas Maduro in January, China saw its extensive interests in the oil-rich country suddenly vulnerable.

The Trump administration in recent weeks has taken forceful steps in one Latin American country after another aimed at curbing the influence an...