Last week’s surprise US military operation in Venezuela and US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US would “run” the country for the time being have upset China’s deep relationship with Venezuela and threatened its investments in Latin America. The impact of last week’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on China is multifaceted. It offers China a formidable opportunity to win buy-in as defender of the Global South against a hegemonic US. But it may also force Beijing to reconsider its economic engagements in the region, increasingly focused on cleantech investment, as the Trump administration follows through on plans to revive the “Monroe Doctrine” and assert US primacy in the Western Hemisphere.
