China has spent decades making inroads in Latin America. Will the ‘Donroe doctrine’ push it out?

As the dust cleared around the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise military strike earlier this month, US officials left little question that they had another target too: China.

A longtime friend to the government in Caracas, China has for years pumped money into the oil fields and infrastructure of the South American country. Maduro’s ouster is a blow to that partnership that could leave Chinese banks facing billions in unpaid Venezuelan debt.

But viewed from Beijing, the stakes are much higher than that. The shake-up was also the loudest warning shot yet of a deeper campaign for the Trump administration: to root out China’s influence across Latin America.

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