Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 20 February 2020
Ending Putin's support of Venezuela no easy feat for U.S.

By JOSHUA GOODMAN more muted.
and DARIA LITVINOVA The bulk of Rosneft's long-
Associated Press term supply contracts are
MOSCOW (AP) — In Octo- arranged directly by the
ber 2016, the head of Rus- parent company in Mos-
sia's largest oil company cow, with the Swiss-based
traveled to the birthplace trading unit handling spot
of Hugo Chávez, in the sales, he said. The sanc-
empty, sweltering plains of tions also include a three-
Venezuela, to unveil a gi- month winding down pe-
ant bronze statue of the riod, which should give the
late socialist leader that company -- and ravenous
he and his longtime friend, oil traders -- plenty of time
Russian President Vladimir to redirect transactions, in-
Putin, commissioned from a cluding with Venezuela.
prominent Russian artist. In addition, Rosneft and
It was a turning point in Sechin were already par-
the relationship between tially sanctioned in 2014 in
Russia and Venezuela, retaliation for Russia's an-
and Rosneft CEO Igor nexation of Crimean pen-
Sechin brought with him insula in Ukraine. As a re-
a 600-year-old choir from In this Aug. 27, 2018 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian Rosneft CEO sult, many U.S. companies
a Moscow monastery to Igor Sechin during his flight to visit Chernigovets coal mine, in Beryozovsky, Kemerovo region, had already been steering
celebrate. Speaking to Russia. clear of the company.
throngs of red-shirted gov- Associated Press "This seems more like a
ernment supporters in flu- warning shot designed to
ent Spanish gleaned from Francisco Monaldi, a Ven- Rosneft purchases Vene- even further, he added. look bigger than it actu-
his days as a Soviet military ezuelan oil expert at Rice zuela's premium Merey 16 Still, short of a U.S. naval ally is," said Nephew, who
translator in Africa, Sechin University in Houston, said crude at a steep discount. blockade of Venezuelan helped design U.S. sanc-
praised Chávez as a "lead- the latest actions should It then uses the proceeds ports — a military option tions policy while at the
er of multi-polarity" and a send a chill through com- from its sale to pay down that the Trump adminis- State Department under
"symbol of an entire era." panies in Spain, China and $6.5 billion lent to PDVSA tration has refused to rule President Barack Obama.
"We have no choice be- elsewhere that continue to since 2014 for the purchase out but has shown no sign "It's shooting someone who
tween victory or death," partner with state-run oil of Russian-made weaponry of pursuing — nobody ex- is Russian sounding without
said Sechin, quoting a Ven- monopoly PDVSA. It could and other goods. pects oil sales from the na- really punishing the Rus-
ezuelan independence also foretell the ending of a Meanwhile, refineries along tion sitting atop the world's sians themselves."
hero to describe the deep- special license for Chevron the U.S. Gulf Coast that largest petroleum reserves Several pro-Putin lawmak-
ening ties between the two that has so far exempted used to depend on Ven- to dry up completely. ers were dismissive of the
U.S. adversaries. "We must the San Ramon, Califor- ezuela's heavy crude have "They can find always find actions, saying they would
achieve victory." nia-based company from nearly tripled their imports ways to sell it, but it's much appeal to the World Trade
Now the Trump adminis- having to pull out of the of unfinished Russian petro- harder," said Monaldi. Organization to remove
tration wants to break up country, where it's a part- leum products in the year Even less clear is the impact what they described as
that blossoming alliance as ner in joint ventures with since sanctions have been on the U.S.' goal of engag- unilateral, unlawful U.S. ac-
part of its campaign to oust PDVSA that produce about in place, according to U.S. ing Russia to find a solution tions.
Chavez's successor, Nico- a quarter of the OPEC na- Energy Department data. to Venezuela's year-old po- "I think this issue can
lás Maduro. tion's total production. To avoid complications for litical impasse. be resolved," Vladimir
On Tuesday, the Treasury "It's no longer the dog bark- customers in China and In- The U.S. leads a group of Dzhabarov, a member of
Department blocked U.S. ing," said Monaldi. "It's bit- dia, Rosneft has been hiring now nearly 60 nations that Russia's upper house of
companies from doing ing now." tankers that try to hide their recognize opposition lead- parliament, told RIA No-
business with Rosneft Trad- PDVSA in a statement con- cargo by turning off their er Juan Guaidó as Venezu- vosti news agency. "They're
ing SA, accusing the Gene- demned what it called mandatory tracking sys- ela's rightful leader follow- smart over there (in Ros-
va subsidiary of the Russian "economic assassination" tems and carrying out risky ing what it considers Mad- neft) and they will find a
state-owned oil giant of by the U.S. aimed at tak- ship-to-ship transfers off the uro's fraudulent 2018 re- way to get around it."
providing a critical lifeline ing control of Venezuela's coast of west Africa and election. In turn, Russia has But even if Putin maintains
to Maduro as he seeks to oil industry. Foreign Minis- other distant locations. accused the Trump admin- outward support for Madu-
bypass U.S. sanctions. ter Jorge Arreaza said the In the short term, he ex- istration of spreading false ro, it's unclear if he'll double
For months, U.S. officials new actions would bolster pects Maduro will have to information to engineer a down and lend even more
have been warning foreign Venezuela's lawsuit filed pay more to find another coup, needling the U.S. in money to the bankrupt
companies that they could against the Trump adminis- intermediary to take on the what has traditionally been country.
face retaliation if they con- tration at the International added risk of moving the considered Washington's At the height of unrest in
tinue to do business with Criminal Court for crimes country's oil. That means backyard as the two sides 2018, anti-government pro-
Maduro. Those admonish- against humanity. his cash-strapped govern- wage proxy battles for influ- testers tried to destroy the
ments have been aimed Rosneft operates with PD- ment will have even less ence in Syria, Ukraine and Chávez statue dedicated
primarily at Russia, which VSA several oil fields that money to import scarce other global hot spots. by Russia. Today, it's under
U.S. officials say handles it acquired after U.S. drill- food and medical supplies Richard Nephew, an ener- heavy guard, pointing to
about 70% of Venezuelan ers were forced out by as well as repair the coun- gy researcher at Columbia the uneasy calm that pre-
oil transactions that have Chavez's nationalization try's crumbling electric- University, said that in spar- vails in the normally pro-
been rerouted since the drive. ity infrastructure. And with ing Rosneft itself, and only government Venezuelan
Trump administration a But as the new, go-to sup- storage facilities already going after one of its many countryside, where power
year ago made it illegal plier of the country's pariah at capacity, production units, the impact on Russia's outages are an almost dai-
for Americans to by crude crude it wins two ways, ac- that is already at a seven- continued political support ly occurrence and misery
from Venezuela. cording to analysts. First, decade low is likely to fall for Maduro is likely to be widespread.q