Neocon US Senator and Venezuela regime change crusader Marco Rubio claims China is secretly backing President Nicolas Maduro by 'shutting down the internet' to thwart Washington-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The Chinese are "single-handedly controlling the defensive cyber operations shutting down the internet," Rubio told Breitbart in an interview published Thursday, claiming that thanks to Beijing, opposition leader Juan Guaidó has "no access to the internet. Any time he tries to speak or communicate on social media, they shut down the internet. Literally, every time he holds a rally, they shut down the internet."

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Its alleged role as official censor is one of the primary reasons China hasn't jumped on board the Guaidó train, according to Rubio – well, that and "they are owed a bunch of money, so they want to get paid," he added.

"On the one hand, [the Chinese] are trying to grow in influence and presence throughout Latin America, so they are seeing all of these countries supporting Guaidó, and they don't want to … antagonize these countries by being cheerleaders for the Maduro regime," Rubio shared his insight. China has already partnered with 18 countries in Latin America as part of its One Belt One Road initiative. "On the other hand…they have an existing leverage relationship with [Maduro]."

Rubio even claimed special knowledge of the Chinese mindset: "the notion in their mind is they need to be against what they view as any American efforts to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."

Apparently realizing he'd just admitted the US was meddling in Venezuelan affairs, the congressman threw in more mind-reading. "That is not the case here, but that is how they view it because they think that, if they allow that [re-democratization] to happen in one place, that would be a predicate for it to happen in other places, including, potentially, China itself."

China has refrained from explicitly endorsing Maduro or Guaidó since the latter declared himself president in January, instead backing "the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Tuesday that China supports an "inclusive political dialogue and consultation under Venezuela's constitution between the government and the opposition independently" while opposing "external interference and unilateral sanctions."

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China joins a long list of US rivals Rubio and other regime change enthusiasts claim have set up shop in Venezuela, including Cuba, Russia, and even Iran and Hezbollah. With such a nefarious conspiracy afoot in its own backyard, the US can use the "military option" against Venezuela whenever it pleases, Rubio pointed out: "that option is always there simply because the United States has a right to defend its national security."

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