Overview
- Senior U.S. officials said the operation that seized Nicolás Maduro was designed to curb China’s two‑decade push for influence in Latin America.
- Trump described telling Beijing, “We don’t want you there,” underscoring a message that Chinese presence in the Western Hemisphere is unacceptable.
- Reports say U.S. forces disabled Chinese‑supplied air defenses in Caracas during the raid, raising questions about the systems’ effectiveness.
- Trump said 30–50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude previously headed to China will now go to U.S. buyers.
- China condemned the move as unilateral bullying, and reporting says Chinese officials are assessing the apparent air‑defense failures exposed by the raid.