Imperialism and Hybrid Warfare from Venezuela to Iran

No, thank you.

And actually, you love it when guests segue to the next topic.

But this issue of the military question in Venezuela is something that we're going to have to see how it develops and how it's explained over time.

Because as you were mentioning, it's not an isolated...

I mean, there was some overwhelming savagery on January 3rd, but this is something that comes after... 25 years of hybrid war after at least 10 years of economic terrorism.

And there is, of course, as these sanctions affect the whole of society and the economy, there is an inability to also maintain the strength of your military.

And perhaps the Venezuelan government had to do some tough choices on whether it bet on the military or whether it tried to maintain social programs and some kind of internal peace as much as possible.

So all of that eventually plays a role in how you get to January 3rd and the present context and also the regional situation where it must be said that Venezuela was in an isolated situation and an ever more isolated situation, which is again, also a consequence of how this internal crisis get exacerbated by imperialist attacks.

But it was, I mean, after January 3rd, we saw very muted reactions from the region and that's what we've seen ever since.

But at the same time, I mean, Venezuela had put forward the discourse of this asymmetric resistance and even bringing up the example of Vietnam with this understanding that, you know, you're not going to defeat the US in a conventional conflict, but rather how do you inflict the cost and how do you make this territory non-compliant and even a problem, a regional problem for U.S. interests.

So I think all of that, I mean, we're still just a few months from January 3rd, and I think all of that will deserve greater discussion and greater scrutiny going forward.

But let me pick up and stay with you, Matteo, because you were mentioning China, and that's something that we want to discuss because As you were mentioning, China is kind of the anchor of this new formation, this multipolar world for many different reasons, not just its own model, but also the role it plays and the growing role it's playing on the global stage.

So the way I put it to you is how is China reacting to this post-Alexa flood era? And in particular, when it comes to Venezuela, Maybe there isn't a concrete answer there, but China was, of course, a very strong ally for the first 25 years or more of the Bolivian Revolution.

And now, of course, you see a new scenario of compromising and in a very open sense, accepting the US dictates.

So at least on the official level, the reaction we're seeing from China is very diplomatic in multiple ways.

But I was wondering if you have a different perspective on the debates that are going on inside China regarding Venezuela as well.

I mean, thanks, Ricardo.

Of course, you pointed out correctly that these are questions, many of these questions, history will answer them and we will have time hopefully to be able to revisit them also with a smile on our face in the sense that imperialism will be on the other side and we will be able to enter a new stage of humanity without all this savagery and violence imposed by the ruling classes governing the major countries of the global north.

Said that, there is no doubt that Beijing and China sees January 3rd as a serious tactical loss in the sense that, as you very well pointed out, the relationship between Venezuela and China was a strong one.

If I remember correctly, I think even it was in late 2025, I think it was Maduro's birthday, that President Xi Jinping had described China and Venezuela as intimate.

I think he used the friends, brothers and partners backing each other in the safeguard of sovereignty and national security, social stability and so on.

So the political relationship was warm and there were a huge amount of investments also from the Chinese side into Venezuela.

And without considering as well the fact that Venezuela represented one of the major reproducers of crude oil that would then end up going directly to China.

So on this sense, we've seen that the initial reaction and continuing reaction of the People's Republic has been one grounded in what we would always expect, which is an anti-hegemonic position, a reminder that this is a violation of international law, and that basically everything needs to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation.

Now, China, it is, on the one hand, it is the anchor of what this multipolar formation, there is no doubt, because what China does through its model of development, because of its scale, territorial and geographical, is shifting the material conditions on which imperialism is sitting.