The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces at the behest of Donald Trump has sparked global criticism, including accusations of imperialism against Washington, which has openly declared its intention to let US firms develop the South American nation’s vast oil reserves.
Among those sharply critical of the US was China, and incidentally, Maduro’s last appearance on state television before his arrest showed him meeting with Chinese officials.
Hours before the US launched Operation Absolute Resolve, Maduro was seen on state television meeting Qiu Xiaoqi, the special representative for Latin American affairs of the Chinese government led by Xi Jinping.
The meeting took place at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, according to the Andalou news agency, and Maduro said in a telegram: “I had a pleasant meeting with Qiu Xiaoqi, the special envoy of President Xi Jinping.”
“We have reaffirmed our commitment to a strategic relationship that is developing and strengthening in various areas to build a multipolar world of development and peace,” Maduro said after the meeting.
Shortly after, U.S. forces, reportedly top Delta Force operators, took Maduro into custody as the Trump administration launched “extensive” strikes against Venezuela.
It is unclear what happened to the Chinese delegation that was in Venezuela.
How China responded
China sharply criticized the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture, with Beijing criticizing what it called “the brazen use of force against a sovereign state and its actions against its president.”
“Such hegemonic actions by the US seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. China firmly opposes this,” said a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Long economic rivals, the rivalry between China and the US has recently taken on a new dimension, with both countries seeking to lead the global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI), which requires vast amounts of energy.
US sees oil reserves
Shortly after Maduro’s capture, Trump announced that US corporations would tap Venezuela’s oil reserves, estimated to be the largest in the world at 300 billion barrels.
“We’re going to have our very big oil companies in the United States, the biggest anywhere in the world, come in, spend billions of dollars, fix badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, adding, “They’ve pumped almost nothing compared to what they could have been.”
Trump went on to say that the US would maintain a military presence in Venezuela to protect oil operations.
“We will have a presence in Venezuela in terms of oil because we have to have it, we have been sending our expertise there,” he said.
