China navy ship makes maiden visit to Venezuela after Maduro visit

A Chinese naval ship has traveled to Venezuela for the first time, following a visit by President Nicolas Maduro to Beijing this month, where he had been looking to gain China’s support for the Latin American nation’s struggling economy. The naval medical ship, known as the “Peace Ark”, arrived on Saturday at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira for an eight-day period of “friendly visits” to the country, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday. Maduro, whose leftist government is under fire in Venezuela as the economy struggles with a fifth year of recession and hyperinflation, visited China earlier in September. China’s leaders pledged to help but made no reference to extending him new funds. More…