Don't forget that Venezuela has already tried once (through Rusoro) to buy their way out of the GRZ arbitration. Nobody seriously believes that Rusoro would have made their buyout attempts unless they were encouraged and assured of permits by senior Venezuelan authorities had they been successful. In fact after that failure to pull off that deal, they quite rapidy lost their bluster and the talk of being the "preferred partner" seemed to evaporate. Obviously Hugo wasn't pleased.

Now with the Chinese in the game with their deep pockets, Hugo may have decided to have a second go at getting rid of a potentially expensive thorn in his side. While KRY and the Chinese don't need Brisas, it may have become a condition from the Ven government that the GRZ arbitration and the potential for a multi-billion dollar settlement against the government be eliminated, just to "smooth the way" for the final permits for LC and LB.

Also I see someone brought up that old chestnut "copper" ... The Chinese are big importers of copper. That Brisas copper would be seen as a nice extra bonus, not an impediment as some seem to have had fixed in their heads when copper was $2 a pound cheaper.....