Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 26 2021

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

What makes it notable is the fact that it was the oil industry, which has been significantly
issued at a time when the Venezuelan political affected by the US sanctions regime. The trade
climate appears to be shifting in what US offi- restrictions imposed on PdVSA in early 2019
cials might describe as the proper direction. have curtailed the country’s ability to explore,
More specifically, the statement came out develop and export its oil resources by restrict-
shortly before Venezuelan President Nicolas ing access to investors, financiers, service pro-
Maduro, whose alleged use of fraudulent tactics viders, trading partners and suppliers of the
to secure re-election in 2018 prompted the US parts and equipment needed to maintain and
to tighten sanctions and target PdVSA in early repair its production, transportation, processing
2019, reached out to US President Joe Biden in and distribution facilities.
an interview with Bloomberg. In the interview, As such, lifting the sanctions would allow the
he called on Biden to normalise diplomatic rela- NOC to reverse the decline in oil output that has
tions and lift trade restrictions – and he did so deprived the country of revenue and also allevi-
relatively cordially, without spending the entire ate the petroleum product shortages that have
conversation fulminating about US imperialism compounded the misery of Venezuelan citizens. Maduro’s
and treachery. Moreover, it might also entice international oil administration is
The statement also came out shortly before companies (IOCs) to return to the country after
Venezuela’s state-run electoral commission years of mostly avoiding it so as not to fall foul of not exactly giving
revealed that the country’s main opposition the US sanctions regime.
group, the Democratic Unity Roundtable up its hold on
(MUD) bloc, would be permitted to participate Loading the dice
in the elections scheduled to take place later this It’s also important to note, though, that Maduro’s power just yet
year. MUD is one of 20 political parties that have administration is not exactly giving up its hold
been authorised to put candidates forth for the on power just yet.
vote in November, representatives of the com- Instead, Caracas is taking steps to load the
mission stated. dice in its favour. For example, it is making sure
They also noted that the election would be that the president’s allies form a majority on
the first one certified by the body’s new electoral the new electoral board. It is also maintaining
board, in which two of the five seats will be filled rules that will prevent more than a dozen prom-
by members of the opposition. inent members of MUD – including Henrique
Capriles, who served as the bloc’s candidate
Genuine signs of change in the presidential election of 2012, and Juan
It seems, then, that there are genuine signs of Guaido, the opposition leader who was named
change in Venezuela’s political climate interim president in early 2019 amidst com-
The EU, at least, seems to be taking these plaints that Maduro had rigged the 2018 vote –
signs seriously. Officials in Brussels said recently from running in any election for public office for
that they intended to send a technical mission at least another decade.
to Venezuela to determine whether the circum- As such, the US (along with Canada and
stances warrant assembling an electoral obser- the EU) ought to consider the matter carefully
vation team to monitor the vote in November. before coming to any conclusions about the out-
Bloomberg commented earlier this week that come of the November elections. They have time
this move was “an important step toward legiti- to do so, since there are more than four months
mising the election.” left until the vote, and they should spend that
If so, it would also represent an important time paying close attention to what the Maduro
step towards normalisation of conditions in administration does, as well as what it says. ™

Venezuelan ballot box (Photo: LA Progressive)

Week 26 01•July•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5