Unelected
US-backed coup leader Juan Guaidó immediately moved to try to
restructure Venezuela’s state-owned oil company and seek financing
from the neoliberal IMF.
by
Ben Norton
Part
2 - Move Toward Privatizing Venezuela’s Oil
Venezuela
has the world’s largest oil reserves. But leftist presidents Hugo
Chávez and Nicolás Maduro have over the past two decades resisted
attempts by US oil companies to exploit the South American nation’s
plentiful natural resources.
The oil
reporting agency S&P Global Platts reported that, in the
immediate wake of the US anointing Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s
supposed “president,” the opposition leader already drafted
“plans to introduce a new national hydrocarbons law that
establishes flexible fiscal and contractual terms for projects
adapted to oil prices and the oil investment cycle.”
This
plan would involve the creation of a “new hydrocarbons agency”
that would “offer bidding rounds for projects in natural gas and
conventional, heavy and extra-heavy crude.”
In other
words, these are rapid moves to privatize Venezuela’s oil and open
the door for multinational corporations.
As The
Grayzone previously reported, Venezuela’s right-wing opposition
has already stated clearly in its “transition” plans: “Public
companies will be subject to a restructuring process that ensures
their efficient and transparent management, including through
public-private agreements.”
S&P
Global Platts also indicated that US sanctions are hitting
Venezuela hard, and Trump administration officials could soon tighten
the screws:
… the
US imposed sanctions that have severely hampered PDVSA’s ability
to raise new financing or restructure its crushing debt load.
US
officials said they are prepared to invoke further sanctions on
Venezuela’s oil sector, including a full embargo on US imports
of Venezuelan crude, if Maduro’s standoff with Guaido escalates
in further violence or political crackdown.
Market
sources said the US’ recognition of Guaido as the legitimate
leader of Venezuela could prompt US refiners to stop purchases of
Venezuelan crude while Maduro remains in power.
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Neoconservative
US Senator Marco Rubio, who has been deeply involved in the coup,
also let the cat out of the bag when he repeatedly brought up oil,
and publicly called on oil workers to “cut off” Maduro and “begin
working” with Guaidó.
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