On January 10, Rebecca Bill Chavez, president and CEO of the Inter‑American Dialogue, spoke with Bloomberg Television to discuss the competitive geopolitical factors that influenced the U.S. move in Venezuela, including great‑power competition, China’s and Russia’s roles in the region, and the wider implications for sovereignty, security, and hemispheric relations.
COMMENTS FROM CHAVEZ:
“Getting a handle on the security situation to incentivize U.S. [oil] companies is going to be really important… The security situation in Venezuela is dire. There should be great concerns about Colombian guerrilla movements, in particular the presence of the ELN and dissident members of the FARC, the Colombian guerrilla organization that was partially dismantled after the Colombian peace accords.”
“Chinese influence, in particular, has really been growing in Latin America for the past decades. And China in particular had a very prominent role in Venezuela, although it turned out not to be such a great economic bet on the part of the Chinese.”
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE
