Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the only global South region wherein just one country, Ecuador, has become a full member of the AIIB, in November 2019 after 22.5 months. Seven more countries are “prospective” members, in order of joining: Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. This chapter introduces the research question that has guided this book: Why have the Latin American prospective members of the AIIB been so unsuccessful at complying with the membership-completion process? The AIIB seems to be able to finance the very expensive infrastructure LAC needs so badly. Why then have the LAC countries been so negligent? Can this illuminate the broader issue of why is it so hard to get physical infrastructure financed in the region?

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