Oil is the backbone of Venezuela. Through it, the country’s economy is either lifted or destroyed. Therefore, the sanctions imposed on Russia, especially on the purchase of fuel, are favoring the communist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro in the South American country. With the rise in oil, Venezuela, which is one of the largest producers in the world, can come out ahead with exports.
After almost a decade of widespread crisis, escaping the focus of international sanctions can help the economic recovery of the Venezuelan dictatorship. Thus, the opening of the market for exports of oil and fertilizers has already raised the self-esteem of the dictator Maduro. In recent months, the president has repeatedly talked about a “rebirth of the country”.
Next week, Venezuela will start selling shares in state-owned companies. It is an attempt to capitalize companies hit by the crisis and the lack of investment.
“We will put up for sale between 5% and 10% of the shares of several public companies for national, fundamentally, or international investment. And you can become an investor,” Maduro announced in a speech on state channel VTV on Wednesday (11).
In celebration of International Labor Day, the dictator announced earlier this month the benefit of 10,000 bolivars (equivalent to about R$11,000) for Venezuelans who retired between January 2018 and May this year. At an event in Caracas, Maduro declared that, in the midst of the “imperialist economic war”, the lives of retirees have been affected. “There were retirees who were left with miserable pay.”
On the occasion, the president also announced the creation of a special project financing fund for workers. “A financial fund that will have as an initial contribution the amount of 100 million bolivars (about R$ 109 million) to invest in workers’ projects”.
This more optimistic economic scenario started in March. While imposing restrictions on Russia, American authorities began to negotiate the suspension of sanctions imposed on Venezuela, since the focus of the United States, under Joe Biden, became to weaken Russia.
The rise in oil has been accentuated since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. In the days before the Russian invasion, which started on February 24, the price of a barrel of crude oil was in the range of US$ 90. This Friday (13), it was at US$ 110.
In April, PDVSA and its joint ventures exported an average of 644,870 barrels of crude and refined products a day, according to data from the state-owned company’s internal loading schedules and tanker tracking data collected by financial market intelligence Refinitiv Eikon. , reproduced by the Reuters agency.
War in Ukraine takes focus away from Venezuela
The US blockade of the Venezuelan dictatorship began in December 2014, when the US Congress passed the Human Rights Defense Act in Venezuela, which provided for the first application of sanctions. In 2015, then-President Barack Obama signed a document declaring the South American country a “threat to the internal security of the United States”.
The government of former President Donald Trump began to reinforce economic pressures on Venezuela in 2017. Two years later, it extended sanctions to the oil sector and the country became dependent on China, Russia and Iran for the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (Petroleos de Venezuela). PDVSA) to remain in business, even on the verge of collapse. In recent years, there have been hundreds of sanctions, mainly from the United States and the European Union, but also involving Canada and the United Kingdom.
Among the sanctions, Venezuela was barred from carrying out transactions in dollars, which made the exchange more expensive for years. The country needs to import most of its domestic consumption products, which is why the purchasing power of Venezuelans has plummeted. In this way, it also became more difficult to maintain the infrastructure in oil refining and the annual losses became billions.
Last year, during the United Nations General Assembly, the Venezuelan dictator called for an end to restrictions. “Venezuela suffers a permanent and systematic aggression through economic, financial and oil sanctions”, complained Maduro.
When the American delegations began to negotiate with the Venezuelan dictatorship, American politicians warned of the risks of this geopolitical maneuver. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, tweeted: “The White House has offered to abandon those seeking freedom from Venezuela in exchange for a paltry amount of oil.”
Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey said in a statement that resuming oil trade with Venezuela “risks perpetuating a humanitarian crisis that has destabilized Latin America and the Caribbean for an entire generation.”
This week, the NGO Venezuelan Program for Education and Action in Human Rights (Provea) reported a 148% increase in torture cases in Venezuela between January and December 2021.
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