Post #426

What Is Venezuela Guilty Of 🇻🇪 [ Global ] 🇺🇸 In the current Venezuelan affair the oil factor should not be absolutized — the issue is rather about establishing broader control over all countries in both Americas. However, the US clearly does intend to take Venezuela's oil as well: Trump mentioned it a dozen times at the Saturday press conference, calling Venezuelan oil "stolen" from the US. But what exactly are Washington’s grievances against Venezuela? Venezuela did challenge US economic interests: ▶️ Since 1976, long before Maduro, the country has seen several waves of oil nationalization, with the most recent one in 2007, when it forced out ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. In response, the oil companies rushed to international arbitration, which awarded them compensation — around $10 billion of which Venezuela still “owes.” ▶️ No less important is the fact that since 2023 Venezuela has laid direct claims to an oil-bearing region of neighboring Guyana, where US major ExxonMobil has been developing oil production from scratch since 2014. By 2023, Exxon’s output in Guyana had caught up with Venezuela’s entire national production. ▶️ By contrast, China and Russia have little to do with Venezuelan oil: about 50% of production is handled by state-owned PDVSA, US Chevron still holds roughly 25% of operations in Venezuela, with about 10% in joint ventures led by China, another 10% by Russia and 5% by European companies. ➡️ Against such a backdrop, since his first term, long before kidnapping Maduro, Trump has been strangling Venezuela with sanctions, which also contributed to the reduction of its oil output to some 30%of what it was when Maduro assumed office. Now all that remains is to impose US companies and lift the sanctions — and proudly present the appropriation of Venezuelan oil as an unprecedented success of American investment. #Global ➡️ Follow to stay informed - @devilsbelow