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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pledged to send “the first Venezuelan man or woman” to the moon on a Chinese spacecraft as part of a new strategic partnership between the two countries, he said Wednesday during a state visit to Beijing.
Maduro and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at a face-to-face meeting for the first time in five years to increase cooperation in several areas, Maduro said, including oil, trade, finance, mining and space exploration.
“Very soon, Venezuelan youth will come to prepare to be astronauts here in Chinese schools,” Maduro said, as part of a “new era” of cooperation between China and Venezuela.
After years of turning away from Beijing, Maduro is strengthening ties with China for help reviving Venezuela’s crumbling economy and oil industry. Venezuela is also in talks with the United States and is exploring the possibility of lifting some U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in return for Maduro’s promise to hold free and fair presidential elections next year.
Maduro’s promise to send citizens to the moon comes as Venezuelans continue to flee the country on foot. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, political, economic and social crises have led to an exodus of more than seven million people. The country is still struggling with frequent power outages, inadequate running water, political instability and an inflation rate that reached 234 percent in 2022.
“Maduro is incapable of feeding his own people, let alone putting a Venezuelan on the moon,” said Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. The lunar ambitions were “somewhat ridiculous,” he said, but Maduro was “desperate to project an image of himself as a successful statesman.”
China, which has worked for years to expand its influence in Latin America, has been a major lender to Venezuela since Hugo Chávez founded the socialist state. Venezuela is China’s largest borrower in Latin America, with $60 billion in government loans. On Wednesday, Beijing announced it would upgrade its relationship to an “all-weather strategic partnership.”
More and more countries are taking part in the 21st century space race. Japan launched a mission this month to become the fifth nation to land on the moon, weeks after India successfully landed a robotic spacecraft near its south pole. The United States remains the only country sending people to the moon. The Soviet Union and China have landed unmanned probes.
In May, China sent three more astronauts into space and made clear its ambition to send a team to the moon before 2030. NASA aims to return American astronauts to the moon by the end of 2025.
Venezuela recently became the first Latin American country to be invited to the International Lunar Research Station, a program led by China and Russia focused on establishing a permanent base on the moon.
Maduro has also expressed interest in joining BRICS – the economic community of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which will add six nations to its ranks next year.
Ramsey said the timing of the Beijing trip amid ongoing talks with the United States was likely an attempt by Maduro to show Americans he has options.
“But I’m not sure he got what he wanted,” Ramsey said. “The reality is that Venezuela currently owes China over $15 billion, and the Chinese are trying to recoup their investment before they go any deeper.”
The United States under President Donald Trump cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela in 2019 after Maduro claimed victory in an election that Washington and other governments viewed as fraudulent. The following year, a US federal court indicted Maduro and 14 senior officials on drug trafficking, corruption and narco-terrorism charges.
In a diplomatic shift, the Biden administration has shown a willingness to negotiate directly with the Maduro government. Officials have granted Chevron a license to resume oil production in Venezuela, home to the world’s largest crude reserves, and said they would consider further easing sanctions in exchange for legitimate elections.
The country is expected to hold presidential elections next year, but Maduro has not yet set a date for the vote. His government has banned leading opposition candidates from taking part in the race.