Fly Me to the Moon 🌝 🇨🇳 | El Feed

China and Venezuela agreed to enter an “all-weather strategic partnership”, but the specifics are unknown. It includes 502 agreements, covering such things as… sending Venezuelans to the moon

China and Venezuela’s New Love Affair

China and Venezuela agreed to enter an “all-weather strategic partnership” after years of cooling down relations, but the specifics are unknown. The two countries signed 502 agreements that cover mining, space exploration, commerce oil production, agriculture and other areas. “It’s a cooperation based on mutual respect where energy and oil are the axis,” Maduro said. It’s still yet to be seen if the meeting will lead to more Chinese participation, including new joint ventures, in Venezuela’s oil industry. However, it doesn’t seem as if they secured quick cash for the elections.

China’s Quagmire in Venezuela

Venezuela’s joint venture with China National Petroleum Corporation is currently producing 80,000 bpd annually: half of what it pumped in 2015. Yet, the joint venture is nowadays practically managed solely by PDVSA, as Chinese companies are avoiding American secondary sanctions like those imposed on Rosneft in 2020. Venezuela still owes between $10 and $15 billion to China, which loaned more than $50 billion in Venezuela until 2018 without much results.

China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), por ejemplo, produce actualmente 80.000 barriles diarios en sus asociaciones en la faja, la mitad de lo que bombeaba en 2015. Y ahí se requieren ingentes inversiones para aprovechar el potencial. pic.twitter.com/gfka74B7Gu
— Leonardo Vera (@LeonardoVera60) September 9, 2023

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In 2008, China manufactured and launched Venezuela’s first space satellite: Simón Bolívar 🛰️. Two other Chinese-made satellites followed in 2012 and 2017.

Yet, despite having a projected lifetime of 15 years, the first satellite went bust in 2020. It’s space junk now. pic.twitter.com/sDpxeUNVr6
— Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) September 13, 2023

Las variaciones eléctricas de las últimas horas han dejado sin #conectividad a #InternetVE varios estados del país, algunos en un nivel crítico, es decir, menos de 50% del nivel de conexión habitual.

% de valores normalizados:
Trujillo 48.68%
Portuguesa 56.57%

11:40 am (UTC-4) pic.twitter.com/c4NynlCLQQ
— VE sin Filtro (@vesinfiltro) September 13, 2023

Venezuela, including Caracas, has experienced a series of local-level blackouts and energy drops throughout the day: ushering fears of another nationwide blackout like the one of March 2019. Internet connectivity has also dipped to more than 50% in some states.

Memories

Remember this Doña del Cafetal disinformation campaign from 2017, when China was still pumping millions into Venezuela? Even La Patilla did an April’s Fool article on China buying Delta Amacuro in 2013.