A television ad from President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign famously opened with this message: "There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all.” In a media landscape dominated by coronavirus news, it’s easy to forget about the bear. But we shouldn’t miss the bear, nor should we miss the dragon, especially when they are in our own backyard.
While we’ve been focusing on COVID-19 recovery efforts, Russia and China have been actively expanding their soft-power efforts in the Western Hemisphere — more specifically, in Venezuela.
Russia has long meddled with our neighbors to the south, and Russia’s recent actions to establish a “second Cuba” should come as no surprise to anyone. For example, do we really believe Russia, with its own cash-strapped economy smaller than the State of New York, is publicly pledging to send 40 tons of medical supplies to Venezuela as a genuine humanitarian gesture? Should we trust that Rosneft and the Kremlin are engaging in shell-company contortions in order to bring real help to this South American country? Of course not.
Further, do we really believe China, a nation that hid knowledge of the coronavirus outbreak and still refuses to share critical COVID-19 information with the United States, sent scientists and medical professionals to Caracas to help battle the disease? Do we trust that Beijing is in talks to financially assist the Maduro regime out of the goodness of their hearts? No way.
China’s influence push is more recent and even more concerning than the long-standing Russian meddling. It is further evidence that President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” debt enslavement trap is targeting the entire world. In fact, China already owns a massive chunk of Venezuelan debt, and they’ve set their sights on attaining even more.
This is about oil, undermining the United States, and pushing the envelope in the middle of a global pandemic. The question before the Trump administration is, what do we do about it?
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton all but openly advocated for the United States to use military force to enact regime change in Venezuela. This would have been far costlier and deadlier than predicted, and it very well could have pulled Russia (Venezuela’s largest oil trading partner) into the middle of the conflict.
Current Trump administration leadership has taken a much more sensible approach. It has ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, encouraging a solution built on internal change and urging both Maduro and his chief opponent, National Assembly President Juan Guaido, to step aside as new elections are called. This is the most sensible approach to the country. It increases global sanctions on the Maduro government while avoiding the “let’s invade” globalist mentality that’s dominated American foreign policy in recent decades. But it’s a holding pattern, not a plan for the future, and we should be clear about that.
China, however, has a global plan, and while the Russians seek chaos, the Chinese seek control.
A recent issue of The Economist dedicated to the rising global influence play of Communist China is a must-read. In their central essay entitled, “Is China Winning?”, the editors posit, “the pandemic will be remembered not only as a human disaster, but also as a geopolitical turning-point away from America.”
We cannot allow this to happen. American businesses must be positioned and ready to get to work once the Maduro regime fails. To do that, we must maintain a significant foothold in the country so we can fill the void with free-market economic influence, rather than military influence, when a leadership change happens. Thus will we stop the Communist Party of China from fully executing their plans for expansion into the Western Hemisphere.
This is also why the U.S. government’s recent call for the last American oil company to remain in-country and hold onto their property is a good one. Forcing American companies to pull up stakes and withdraw from Venezu ela immediately w ould only strengthen Maduro’s dictatorial government and his ability to stay in power, and it would place the United States at a disadvantage in fending off the Russians and the Chinese from having sole access to the world’s largest oil reserves. The United States is the best possible ally for the Venezuelan people and can help restore an economy based on free-market principles and legitimate businesses, but only if we maintain our presence.
Right now, coronavirus news understandably dominates everything. But it won’t last forever. The world continues to be a dangerous place, and now the bears and the dragons looking to destroy democracy and freedom operate in plain sight. And when the history books are written, COVID-19 won’t be the dominant story for the 21st century – the economic competition between the United States and China will be. This is why we must give our companies and our allies every tool they need to fend off the tyrannical Communist Party of China, and that includes fighting for the democratic future of Venezuela.
Jason Miller served as Senior Communications Advisor on President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He was also Communications Director for the Trump Transition Team. He can be followed on Twitter @JasonMillerInDC.
