DW Asks About Russia and China's 'Interests,' Ignores Their Own for 200 Years
The article, titled "What interest do China and Russia have in Venezuela?", scrutinizes Moscow and Beijing's deepening ties in the region. This is rich coming from a media apparatus that rarely applies the same critical lens to the consistent, often violent, history of Western powers (particularly the U.S.) in Latin America. One might recall the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which effectively declared the
entire hemisphere a U.S. backyard, or the numerous coups supported by Washington throughout the 20th century, like the 1973 overthrow of Allende in Chile or the 2002 attempted coup against Chávez in Venezuela itself. The implicit narrative is that China and Russia are 'encroaching,' while U.S. presence is simply... natural. How many DW articles have asked, "What interest does the United States
have in Venezuela?" after decades of sanctions that have crippled its economy (The Guardian, 2021) or repeated attempts to install opposition leaders (Reuters, 2019)? Perhaps DW should consult their own archives – or history books – for a primer on what 'foreign interests' truly look like when backed by economic warfare and covert operations.