WASHINGTON _ The United States is pressing Latin American leaders to deliver a message to China: Beijing is damaging its image in the Western Hemisphere and putting billions of its investment at risk by propping up Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
According to diplomats and sources familiar with the discussions between Trump's national security team and Latin American leaders, China has become a key part of the U.S.-supported international pressure campaign to isolate Maduro and remove him from Venezuela.
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council, Mauricio Claver-Carone, and other senior officials have delivered the message to regional ambassadors and mission chiefs in the last couple weeks, including over coffee and breakfast at the Chilean Embassy and at lunch at the Colombian Embassy, sources said.
