Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, and the United States and China are the world’s largest oil importers, yet Venezuela’s relations with Beijing and Washington couldn’t be more different. China has built a massive state-to-state, loans-for-oil relationship with Venezuela, while U.S. oil imports from the country continue to decline as diplomatic ties further fray. All of this is taking place against a background of rising Chinese influence in Latin America and renewed U.S. diplomatic and energy initiatives with Cuba and throughout the region.
Matt Ferchen presented his findings from his recent Carnegie article, Crude Complications: Venezuela, China, and the United States, and Francisco Gonzalez offered comments.
Matt Ferchen
Matt Ferchen is a resident scholar at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, where he runs the China and the Developing World Program.
Francisco Gonzalez
Francisco Gonzalez is the Riordan Roett associate professor of Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.