China is the great power that keeps Venezuela's Maduro in power

Carlos Eduardo Pina is a political scientist specializing in the relationship between China and Latin America. He is a contributor to the project "Analisis Sinico" at www.cadal.org and member of the Chinese Academic Network on China Latin America (Red ALC-China).

Venezuela has been the focus of much of the world's media in recent days. The reason is simple: Nicolas Maduro, the current president, has refused to leave office, despite his likely loss in the July 28 elections. Exit polls showed a heavy defeat for the incumbent, but a nontransparent electoral authority gave him a narrow win.