Behind the Venezuela crisis, a US-China tussle over critical minerals

Washington’s abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro last week has been characterised by many – including US President Donald Trump – as an attempt to gain control over the South American nation’s oil industry.
But analysts said the crisis was also about Washington’s need to secure access to critical minerals – and that other resource-rich nations should be on guard.
In addition to its vast oil reserves, Venezuela has significant deposits of an array of precious metals and other valuable…