Stephen Kaplan, associate professor of political science and international affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University: “In the prelude to President Maduro’s visit, Venezuelan Vice President Rodríguez and Energy Minister Tellechea discussed potential bilateral joint ventures with Chinese officials. China used joint ventures during Venezuela’s 2016 debt moratorium as a strategy to help boost Venezuelan oil production and recover collateral from its loan-for-oil deals. Endowing Venezuela with a grace period to repay its $19 billion debt, the moratorium was extended in 2020 after U.S. secondary sanctions had interrupted PDVSA’s direct oil shipments to Chinese companies in 2019. Oil proceeds from third-party trade (for example, Malaysia) reportedly helped cut Venezuela’s debt to $10 billion-$15 billion today. However, Venezuela needs new financial commitments to ease its ongoing crisis before the 2024 presidential elections. Beyond potential joint-venture cooperation, however, China mainly extracted Venezuela’s support for its key foreign policy initiatives, including RMB internationalization and…”