China has spent decades making inroads in Latin America. Will the ‘Donroe doctrine’ push it out?

As the dust cleared around the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise military strike earlier this month, US officials left little question that they had another target too: China.

A longtime friend to the government in Caracas, China has for years pumped money into the oil fields and infrastructure of the South American country. Maduro’s ouster is a blow to that partnership that could leave Chinese banks facing billions in unpaid Venezuelan debt.

But viewed from Beijing, the stakes are much higher than that. The shake-up was also the loudest warning shot yet of a deeper campaign for the Trump administration: to root out China’s influence across Latin America.

Beijing has spent decades growing its trade ties and bankrolling projects in the region, to boost transportation links and cut energy costs – cementing its own influence along the way.

A US national security strategy released in December pledged to “deny non-Hemispheric competitors” control of “strategically vital assets” in the Western Hemisphere and “make every effort to push out foreign companies that build infrastructure in the region.”