The Venezuela opposition lawmaker recognized as interim president offered China economic partnership as an appeal for its support for the ouster of strongman Nicolas Maduro.
China would have “extraordinary potential” to invest in Venezuela if Maduro’s regime were to fall, Juan Guaido said Saturday.
“There are plenty of opportunities for investment in Venezuela,” Guaido, whose claim to the presidency is backed by Western powers, said in a written interview with the South China Morning Post. “China has an extraordinary potential as an investor to contribute to the restoration of our country’s economy.”
China has joined Russia in backing Maduro even as leaders throughout Europe and the Western Hemisphere throw their support to the opposition. China has found an investment partner in Maduro, but Guaido countered by touting the potential for Xi’s regime to continue their “Belt and Road Initiative” in the country.
“This initiative gives China a natural space to foster development across the region,” Guaido said in the written interview. “We want to boost our relationship with China to stimulate our country’s economy. There is a lot of work to do in this regard.”
Those remarks, at first glance, might seem to pose a concern for the Trump administration, which regards the Belt and Road Initiative — a controversial Chinese plan to expand infrastructure investment overseas — as a predatory maneuver to purchase influence and ultimately sovereignty over strategically-significant facilities.
“Most of the blame for Venezuela’s economic collapse and humanitarian disaster falls squarely on the Venezuela’s rulers,” David Malpass, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for international affairs, said in February. “But China has been by far Venezuela’s largest lender, supporting poor governance. The result will raise the ultimate cost to the international community once Venezuela’s returns to democracy and economic reforms.”
Gauido offered a carefully worded assurance that China’s existing deals with Venezuela would be honored if Maduro departed.
“We are committed to restoring the rule of law to recover the trust of our investors,” he wrote. “All agreements that have been signed with China following the law will be respected. If previous agreements were signed by adhering to the due process of approval by the National Assembly, my government will accept and honor them.”
His focus on the need for the deals to have been approved by the National Assembly could raise doubts about agreements that Maduro signed since 2015, when the opposition took control of the legislature.
“At this stage of the collapse of not only the Venezuelan economy, but also the regime, I believe that Maduro is ready to sell the farm at any price,” Diego Arria, Venezuela’s exiled former ambassador to the United Nations, told Canadian media in September. “There is no limit to what he can surrender to the Chinese at this stage.”
