46 h. ago Trump pick for South America command sidesteps China questions at Senate hearing

Days after the operation that abducted then Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump’s nominee to command US forces in Latin America dodged pressure from senators to endorse a military-first plan to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Lieutenant General Francis Donovan, who is nominated to lead US Southern Command (Southcom), repeatedly declined to say whether Washington should rely mainly on force projection to push back against Beijing’s expanding footprint. The...

Politics

3 d. ago Why the US may find Iran’s air defence system harder to break than Venezuela’s

A bit more than a week after the United States abducted former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on Caracas, US President Donald Trump is threatening military action against Iran, which is seeing a massive wave of anti-government protests. Yet a strike aimed at taking out the Iranian leadership could prove harder, given that Iran’s more sophisticated air defence system is also reported to be integrating China’s most advanced exported technology. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his social...

Politics

5 d. ago The US has played its hand in Latin America. Will China’s firms there cash out?

With domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. In the days since Washington’s ousting and abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro – an event that sent shock waves through global markets – some...

Economics

6 d. ago Cuba defiant after Trump says island to receive no more Venezuelan oil or money

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time US nemesis. Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil blockade on the Opec country, shipping data shows. “THERE...

Politics

6 d. ago Cuba defiant after Trump threat to cut off ‘oil and money’ lifeline

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time US nemesis and provoking defiant words from the island’s leadership. Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil...

Politics

7 d. ago How the US raid in Venezuela has triggered Brazilian fury and a Chinese opening

Last weekend, following the US military operation in Venezuela abducting its leader, Nicolas Maduro, Brazil’s president denounced the attack as a “flagrant violation of international law” and having “crossed an unacceptable line”. “These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community,” Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on social media. Lula, who said attacking countries was “the first step towards a...

Politics

7 d. ago Venezuela’s furious streets forces are angry, armed and asking questions

When explosions boomed in the night and US warplanes roared in the sky over Caracas, Jorge Suarez and his companions rushed fearfully for their guns. For these members of the colectivos – armed loyalists of the leftist leadership – the US raid that ousted Nicolas Maduro as their president was the most dramatic challenge yet. “We’re not used to it – it was like a bestseller, like something out of a film,” said Suarez, in black sunglasses and a cap bearing the slogan: “Doubt is treason.” “We took...

Events

8 d. ago How far is China willing to go to help Cuba in face of increasing US pressure?

China is expected to be cautious about confronting the United States over Cuba as Washington ramps up its threats following the abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Since the raid on Caracas, the White House has increasingly turned its attention towards the western hemisphere’s only Communist state, along with Colombia and Greenland, with President Donald Trump saying “Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall”. Havana is also heavily reliant on subsidised Venezuelan oil and is...

Events

9 d. ago Venezuela releasing ‘significant number’ of prisoners in bid to ‘seek peace’

Venezuela released citizens and foreigners from its prisons on Thursday in what a top government official described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York. Jorge Rodriguez, brother of Acting President Delcy Rodriguez and head of the National Assembly, did not specify who they would be releasing or how many people would be released. But he said the release of prisoners “is...

Events

9 d. ago Venezuela frees opposition figures and activists, which Trump says US requested

Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists - both citizens and foreigners - on Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former president Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces to face drug-trafficking charges. US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Maduro allies now leading the country to fold to his vision for the future of the oil-rich nation, said the releases came at...

Politics

9 d. ago Why US move against Maduro unlikely to drive China from Latin America

The US decision to raid Venezuela, detain its President Nicolas Maduro and bring him to the United States, ostensibly on drug trafficking charges, will have serious downstream effects, but of what variety? US President Donald Trump has already sent ominous warnings to other Latin American countries whose leaders oppose all or parts of his agenda – from Colombia to Cuba to Mexico – and threatened Maduro’s successor with similar, or worse, treatment if she does not cooperate. Does this suggest...

Politics

1 week ago Trump says Greenland is ‘surrounded’ by Chinese ships. What’s the real story?

Just 24 hours after abducting the former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas, US President Donald Trump had already named his next potential target for military action: Greenland. Trump has been discussing “a range of options” – including the use of armed force – to acquire the self-governed Danish territory, the White House said on Tuesday. What would a US takeover of Greenland mean for China, if it were to really happen? The Post breaks down trade relations between the...

Politics

1 week ago Energy markets are political – Venezuela is the latest proof

The United States’ forcible removal of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from power has reignited a debate over international law and sovereignty. But this risks obscuring a more consequential fact: global energy markets are not governed primarily by liberal market logic, but are shaped by geopolitical strategy. Venezuela matters less as a case in itself than as a signal of how energy is being repositioned amid intensifying US-China economic competition. For decades, many assumed that energy...

Politics

1 week ago Use of US military to acquire Greenland ‘always an option’, White House says

US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option”, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the...

Events

1 week ago Venezuela’s Maduro copied my dance – but Melania hates it, Trump says

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Nicolas Maduro of imitating his dancing, among other crimes, as he celebrated the capture of the Venezuelan leader in a freewheeling speech to Republican lawmakers. Trump’s comments come after a New York Times report that Maduro’s regular public dancing in defiance of US threats convinced White House officials that it was time to act. “He gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit,” Trump told lawmakers at the Kennedy Centre in...

Politics

1 week ago Venezuela attack seen as reminder for China to boost air defence, counter

The US operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro serves as a reminder for China to bolster its air defences and counter-intelligence protections, observers say. Analysts in China described Venezuela’s air defences – which rely largely on Russian technology – as “full of flaws and slow to react” amid the modern surveillance, cyber, and electronic warfare displayed by US forces in Saturday’s operation in Caracas. The operation could serve as a further case study for China, which has...

Events

1 week ago Chinese firm owner in Venezuela warns of spillover after Maduro’s abduction

Eight years after leaving Venezuela, David Hou, a native of southern China’s Guangdong province, returned last year, pleased to find what he described as an improved economic environment. That optimism is now shrouded in uncertainty after the United States abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on allegations of narcoterrorism and possessing “destructive devices” – charges he has firmly rejected. While the full impact has yet to be felt, the situation is “making people anxious and very...

Events

1 week ago Trump team praises US media for keeping its Venezuela raid plan secret

In the wake of last weekend’s US military action in Venezuela, the US news media got something it has seldom heard from the Trump administration: a “thank you”. Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited news organisations that had learned in advance about last Saturday’s strike that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with not putting the mission in jeopardy by publicly reporting on it before it happened. Rubio’s acknowledgement was particularly noteworthy because US Defence...

Politics

1 week ago China’s sensitive technology at risk after Trump abducts Venezuela leader Maduro

China risks losing access to satellite tracking stations and other sensitive technology infrastructure in Venezuela after the United States seized control of the country’s leadership and transferred its president Nicolas Maduro to New York for trial. Beijing’s embedded assets – from satellite ground stations to oilfield systems and telecommunications networks – could be compromised after US President Donald Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela and “fix oil infrastructure” in the country...

Politics

1 week ago China’s sensitive technology at risk after Trump abducts Venezuelan leader Maduro

China risks losing access to satellite tracking stations and other sensitive technology infrastructure in Venezuela after the United States seized control of the country’s leadership and snatched its president, Nicolas Maduro, taking him to New York for trial. Beijing’s embedded assets – from satellite ground stations to oilfield systems and telecommunications networks – could be compromised after US President Donald Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela and “fix oil infrastructure” in the...

Politics