In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies earlier this month, the United States Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass said China’s role in Venezuela, including oil-for-loan deals, is partly to blame for the country’s shrinking economy and poor governance. Malpass also expressed concern at China’s invitation to other Latin American and Caribbean states to deepen economic and trade cooperation.
This was in response to previous comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who also warned against excessive reliance on economic ties with China, saying: “while this trade has brought benefits, the unfair trading practices used by many Chinese have also harmed those countries’ manufacturing sectors, generating unemployment and lowering wages for workers.” Tillerson also addressed Russia’s role and its continued selling of arms and military equipment to unfriendly governments, namely Venezuela. He added that the region did not need new imperial powers.
But even as Tillerson reminisces on the “success” of the Monroe Doctrine and the hemisphere’s connection through democratic values, these are values that for a long time now Venezuela has not shared. And as President Nicolás Maduro looks to solidify his claim to power by calling for early elections—which have now been postponed to May—under clearly fraudulent conditions the country continues isolate itself and make a mockery of regional norms to defend democracy.
