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Oil, the Second Step in Operation Maduro

HAVANA TIMES – At the beginning of the year, the world woke up to the news of the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and beyond the political interests involved, we all knew there were economic motivations behind it as well.

Unlike Cuba, whose regime is equally irritating to the US administration, or perhaps even more so, Venezuela does have attractive resources that “justify” any action.

For decades, the relationship between the United States and Venezuela was marked by a combination of energy dependence, political rivalry, and economic sanctions.

In that context, an agreement like the one announced this week, allowing US companies access to billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil, inevitably raises questions: Is this a legitimate commercial operation, a strategy to ease pressures on the energy market, or a form of indirect appropriation of Venezuela’s resources?

The current political and economic conditions between the two nations have created a profoundly unequal relationship, especially when one country controls the other’s access to financing, technology, and trade, and moreover has a puppet in the government, as is the case with Delcy Rodríguez.

Venezuela has one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, much of it extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Oil Belt. For years, the United States was one of the main destinations for Venezuelan oil, while US companies participated in production and marketing projects.

The relationship progressively deteriorated during Nicolas Maduro’s government, and amid an environment in which Washington questioned the legitimacy of Venezuela’s elections, denounced human rights violations, and accused government officials of corruption and drug trafficking, everything became increasingly complicated.

Financial and oil sanctions limited the operations of Petróleos........

© Havana Times