View of the refinery El Palito in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo state, Venezuela on Jan. 11, 2026. Maryorin Mendez/AFP via Getty Images
With the apprehension of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, the United States has effectively gained control over the world’s largest proven oil reserves, cutting off one of Beijing’s most important energy lifelines in the Western Hemisphere.
Just hours before his capture by the U.S. military, Maduro met with Chinese special envoy Qiu Xiaoqi, praising the “brotherly ties” between Caracas and Beijing. Those ties were built largely on oil. For years, most of Venezuela’s crude exports flowed to China, anchoring a relationship that mixed energy supply with debt, diplomacy, and political survival. That relationship unraveled quickly.
