US: The uses Venezuela as a check on Russia and China

US: led initiative to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry, according to President Donald Trump, is intended to stop China and Russia from increasing their strategic presence in the Western Hemisphere.

Speaking at the White House with executives from significant American and foreign oil corporations, Trump said that if Washington had not stepped in, Beijing or Moscow would have taken swift action to control Venezuela’s energy resources.

“China or Russia would have been there if we hadn’t done this,” Trump said.

Although he stressed that control over Venezuelan production must be in line with US interests, he said that the US would still be willing to sell oil to China and other nations.

According to Trump, “we are open for business in Venezuela and in the United States.”

According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the previous government had turned Venezuela into a venue for adversaries.

“Having a country under the control of an indicted drug trafficker in our own hemisphere was not in the national interest or national security of the United States,” Rubio said.

Chris Wright, the energy secretary, said that instability outside of Venezuela had been exacerbated by its fall.

According to Wright, “the corruption and decline of Venezuela has been a crisis for the people of Venezuela.”

Trump said that without a protracted war, US military intervention had produced leverage.

“Ordering the massive military operation and then using our military’s power to stop the flow of Venezuelan oil, not to fire bullets,” he said.

According to him, the plan was similar to US efforts to stop Russian and Chinese influence in other key areas. Trump said, “We will not allow China or Russia to occupy Venezuela.”

Energy security and geopolitical rivalry have shaped US strategy over the years, making Latin America an area of strategic relevance for the US.