US Considers Suspending Oil Imports from Venezuela
HAVANA TIMES – Donald Trump says he means business and does not rule out any option, including the suspension of Venezuelan oil imports, as part of the economic actions against the government of Nicolas Maduro.
On Monday Trump warned the Venezuelan leader that if he doesn’t back down on the convening of a Constituent Assembly to rewrite his country’s Constitution he would face swift and severe sanctions, reported dpa news.
“All options are on the table,” said US administration sources on Tuesday. “We understand that we work with options that can have consequences in Venezuela and also in the United States,” said senior officials.
Measures could also be taken before July 30, which is the day Maduro has called the election of the body that he wants to draft a new Constitution.
“The president is very concerned about the welfare of the Venezuelan people,” the sources said. Measures are being studied to contribute to the “restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” which is the objective pursued, they said.
“The United States will not sit still watching Venezuela crumble,” Trump said in a statement Monday. “If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and rapid economic actions,” he warned.
Maduro has sharply criticized both the Trump and the Obama administrations for trying to intervene in Venezuelan affairs. He further accuses all those who oppose his government and its policies as being lackeys for the US.
As I said it will not happen, just like the changes done by Trumpian for the Miami mafia are not substantial…and been delayed.
Yes rodrigvm! Are you frightened?
Trump will not follow through are you serious?
Excellent comment. I will add that the Venezuelan crude which the US imports is less than 3% of the imported oil in the US. Saudí Arabia could replace Venenezuelan oil in less than two weeks. US national reserves represent more than 1 year of Venenezuelan imports. In other words, suspending Venenezuelan oil imports would cut of more than one-third of the oil revenues in Venezuela as you point out. For US consumers, however, such a move would be barely noticeable.
Nicholas Maduro will have to consider that Venezuela’s largest customer is the USA which accounts for 35.3% of Venezuela’s exports.
Havng already achieved the highest consumer price inflation level in the world at an astonishing 121.7% by pursuit of Fidel Castro economic policies, Maduro clings onto power by control of the military. The consequences of his inabilities and obduracy threaten to be cataclysmic.
That lemming-like obduracy has brought Maduro and his country to the edge of the abyss.
Nicholas Maduro will have to consider that Venezuela’s largest customer is the USA which accounts for 35.3% of Venezuela’s exports.
Havng already achieved the highest consumer price inflation level in the world at an astonishing 121.7% by pursuit of Fidel Castro economic policies, Maduro clings onto power by control of the military. The consequences of his inabilities and obduracy threaten to be cataclysmic.
That lemming-like obduracy has brought Maduro and his country to the edge of the abyss.