Chinese firm owner in Venezuela warns of spillover after Maduro’s abduction
Chinese entrepreneurs have returned to South American nation in recent years, but some fear consequences after Washington’s intervention
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.
While the full impact has yet to be felt, the situation is “making people anxious and very cautious”, said Hou, who co-runs a supermarket business in Caracas.
“If the government and the US remain locked in confrontation, with the situation uncertain and sanctions continuing, ordinary people’s lives will become very difficult and overseas Chinese investments will also be affected,” he said.
The Venezuelan government has vowed to maintain independence from US control. Delcy Rodriguez – Maduro’s former vice-president, who has nevertheless offered to cooperate with the Trump administration – was formally sworn in as interim president on Monday.
Like Hou, many Chinese, mostly from his home city of Enping in Guangdong province, were lured back to the South American nation over the past couple of years as the economy stabilised and security improved.
The Chinese population in Venezuela now stands at 200,000, Hou said, though it was once double that size. There is limited publicly available data on the current number living in the country.
The exodus peaked between 2015 and 2017 when a severe economic and social crisis forced many, including Hou – who had lived in the country for nearly two decades – to leave.