China and the Venezuela crisis

First, the Venezuelan crisis is an important test of U.S. resolve in the region. Despite widespread recognition that the situation is deteriorating, the United States has taken little action. “Venezuela is the most serious crisis confronting the region, and there really needs to be a lot of high level U.S. diplomatic pressure there,” according to Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue. But U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson remained conspicuously absent from key hemispheric meetings…

This could not come at a worse time for American geostrategic interests. While Washington and the Trump administration continue to kick the can down the road in regards to Latin America, China has begun to step in as a player in Latin America. Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela recently became members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an organization led by China…

These moves toward deeper integration between China and Latin America should sound alarm bells for the Trump administration. The United States risks losing the hemispheric influence it has enjoyed for more than a century. The first step to correcting the Washington’s neglect is for Tillerson to appoint an appropriate person to fill the vacancy of the assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs as quickly as possible.