Why China Didn’t Intervene
Despite fiery rhetoric, China did not—and realistically could not—intervene militarily.
Why?
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No Power Projection
China has no military bases in Latin America. The US has many. -
Doctrine of Non-Interference
Beijing prefers contracts over confrontations. -
Asymmetric Risk
Any escalation would invite retaliation in Taiwan, the South China Sea, or trade.
China chose words.
The US chose action.
That contrast exposes the limits of China’s global reach—and the willingness of the US to cross lines others will not.
Venezuela Is Not a Gateway to Peru—But the Pattern Is the Same
Venezuela does not physically connect the US to Peru. Diplomatically and economically, Washington already has direct access to Lima.
What connects them is resource competition.
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Chinese copper in Peru
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Chinese minerals in Venezuela
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US anxiety about supply chains, EV dominance, defense manufacturing
This is not about borders.
It is about who controls the inputs of the next industrial era.
Technology Changed the Room—and the World
The Obama-era Situation Room showed:
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Grainy drone feeds
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Laptops
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Human judgment under uncertainty
The Trump-era command environment shows:
