You know, the role of China and Russia in our region is becoming very alarming. In the last negotiation of China with the regime, they facilitated some easing of payment in the short term, but they said that they were going to survey in situ the behaviour of the regime. That means that they're getting involved in the political system of Latin America.
I should have said at the beginning that this is not our problem anymore. This is a regional problem. We are really a threat to the stability of the region. I'm sure you know that we have about 60,000 Cubans in Venezuela. When we had the War of Independence, we had 22,000 Spaniards come into the country.
These 60,000 people control the army, the intelligence service, the notaries, the registries. They issue passports and ID cards. We are actually subordinate to the Cubans, and the Cubans are very close now to the Chinese. In a way, we are going back rapidly to the Cold War. If you go to the Security Council with the case of Venezuela, immediately China and Russia veto it, and it's the same thing with Nicaragua.
We don't have any way out in the Security Council. We had a meeting under a formula that has my name two weeks ago at the United Nations, and we were able to expose our tragedy. However, the case of China—and I'm very happy that you raised the issue—is to me an alarming new element in the context of what's happening in Latin America.