Venezuela’s crude production continues to struggle amidst a number of obstacles resulting from wide-reaching US sanctions.

The latest monthly report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed the South American nation’s output at 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February, according to secondary sources. The number is barely above the 696,000 bpd pumped in January.

State oil company PDVSA reported a nearly identical 704,000 bpd figure, down from 732,000 bpd the prior month.

Venezuela’s oil industry has been hampered by mismanagement, a brain drain and especially unilateral coercive measures from Washington. Since 2017, the US Treasury Department has levied financial sanctions, an export embargo, secondary sanctions and a raft of other measures meant to strangle Caracas’ main source of foreign income.

Output fell precipitously from 1.9 million bpd in mid-2017 to less than 350,000 bpd in the second half of 2020. It recovered in 2021 and has been hovering around 700,000 bpd for more than a year.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15727

"We are the government in this zone. That, of course, doesn’t happen spontaneously. The commune has to offer real, tangible solutions to people’s problems. However, the kind of self-government that we are aiming for is not just about solving people’s problems. Our variety of self-government is about real participation and communal autonomy. We cooperate with the local government, but it is not about clientelism or tutelage."

Second part of our interview with El Sur Existe Commune: https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15728

🧵🧵[Thread] Abject anti-Venezuela propaganda from an unexpected source: Truthout (https://bit.ly/3FyGSUj). Pretty amazing that an outlet with supposed high standards, where current and former VA members have published, would put out something this awful.

Read it here: https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1636967531440136192

🗞🧵News recap

An anti-corruption purge seems underway with reports of a number of arrests, including two judges, a mayor and the national cryptocurrency superintendent. More developments are expected in the coming days, so stay tuned.

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1637514620750503936

🧵Dishonesty on steroids. Some outlets don’t pay much attention to Venezuela. That means that when content comes out it has a maximum dose of biased propaganda. Case in point here is the bourgeois mouthpiece that is the Financial Times (https://on.ft.com/40hOeDQ)

Read the (long!) Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1637693588715741185

#News | Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami tendered his resignation Monday after the National Anti-Corruption Police revealed alleged “serious acts of corruption" that led to the arrest of several high-ranking figures.

“In light of the investigations that have been initiated into serious acts of corruption in [Venezuelan state oil company] PDVSA; I have made the decision to present my resignation as Oil Minister, with the purpose of fully supporting, accompanying and backing this process,” wrote El Aissami.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who accepted the resignation, held a televised meeting with the leadership of the PSUV in the Hotel Humboldt in Caracas on Monday night where he spoke about the alleged corruption scheme that saw an estimated US$ 3 billion pilfered from public coffers according to media reports.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15729

#News | Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has reportedly accumulated over 20 billion US dollars in lost revenue since 2020 as a consequence of dealings with unreliable intermediaries to allocate crude amidst Washington’s blockade.

An audit of PDVSA contracts has revealed that just 16 percent of oil sales over the past three years have brought in cash, with only $4.08 billion confirmed in received payments out of $25.27 billion from total exports between January 2020 and March 2023, according to internal documents viewed by Reuters.

The remaining $21.2 billion are unpaid bills including an outstanding balance in swap agreements with longtime partner Iran that should be settled through various exchange mechanisms.

However, an estimated $3.6 billion are potentially irretrievable after internal PDVSA sources said that contract documents show that executives had authorized unknown tankers to leave the country without paying.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15730

#News | The Nicolás Maduro government could be on the verge of selling Colombia-based Monómeros Colombo Venezolanos.

Colombian ambassador to Venezuela Armando Benedetti broke the news during a summit in Barranquilla this week, telling business representatives that Ecopetrol would reportedly purchase the strategic agrochemical company for US $300 million. He also presented an alternative scenario where only 51 percent of shares would be acquired.

However, on Friday afternoon Ecopetrol, which is 90 percent owned by the Colombian state, issued a statement claiming that it had not “engaged in talks” towards acquiring Monómeros.

The Colombian corporation is undergoing changes at the top, with chairman Felipe Bayón set to be replaced by Alberto Consuegra Granger on an interim basis beginning on April 1. Bayón had expressed disagreements with Petro’s government and voiced concerns that Ecopetrol was becoming “politicized.”

Neither Bogotá nor Caracas have publicly commented on Benedetti’s announcement. Maduro and Petro met in Caracas on Thursday for a “work meeting” but there was no further information nor a joint statement released to the media.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15731

Though there are plenty of mighty rivals, the New York Times remains the gold standard when it comes to imperialist propaganda. Let’s look at another example riddled with biased takes and outright falsehoods (https://nyti.ms/3LSaLDh) [thread]

https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1639875482526052352

#News | A US judge ruled Friday that four companies had the right to seize shares of CITGO, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), after they convinced the court that it was the "alter ego" of the so-called “interim government” of Venezuela.

CITGO, considered Venezuela’s most prized foreign asset, is on the brink of being broken up and seized by creditors pending changes to the sanctions regime imposed by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The potential seizure of shares stem from awards worth billions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in international arbitration courts.

O-I Glass, Huntington Ingalls Industries, ACL1 Investments and Rusoro Mining will now peg claims totaling US $1.6 billion plus accrued interest to a court-mandated auction of shares belonging to PDV Holding, CITGO’s parent company.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15732

#News | Venezuelan authorities continue to push on with a wide-reaching anti-corruption probe centered on the oil industry.

On Tuesday evening, 23 detainees were arraigned before a judge and two public prosecutors. The arrival of the prisoners in orange jumpsuits was broadcast on state television networks.

The swift hearing saw them all subjected to pre-trial detention. The group includes nine public officials, ten businessmen and National Assembly Deputy Hugbel Roa, who had his parliamentary immunity removed by the legislative body.

The charges include misappropriation of public funds, influence peddling and money laundering. Saab added that those who worked at state oil company PDVSA might additionally be charged with treason. The group likewise included three judges, who were charged with corruption, but no connections between the two cases have been established.

The alleged corruption plot has been labeled PDVSA/Crypto by Attorney General Tarek William Saab, in reference to the accusation that US $3 billion worth of crude sales were diverted via cryptocurrency schemes.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15734

#Opinion | "If the Free Cover people seem determined to persuade us that their friends have a good time because they are winners, it is no less true that the officialists seem comfortable naturalizing the fact that only a privileged few can have access to stages and high-end events.

If, for the reasons mentioned above, Free Cover fails to recreate the joy of Venezuelans, in the case of the ruling party, the attempt fails to recreate the popular rebelliousness that was associated with Chávez. And this is so because, as happens with Free Cover, the ruling party is incapable of recognizing itself in a real country that can both sing Billo’s and celebrate the life of Hugo Chávez. A country that, in spite of its existence being denied by both sides, continues to exist and will not cease to remake itself while singing and fighting."

In his latest VA column, Reinaldo Iturriza explores the intersection of cultural trends with politics.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/politics-commons/15733

#News | The Colombian government has proposed to host an international meeting to unblock the negotiations between the Venezuelan government and the US-backed opposition.

“President Gustavo Petro will call for an international conference in Bogotá to promote dialogue between representatives of civil society, the opposition and the Venezuelan government,” read a statement published on March 28.

The Colombian government added that the purpose of the summit “is to reopen and build a road map to stimulate and support the dialogue process” in Venezuela and that President Petro “will seek direct conversation with the Venezuelan opposition at the meeting.”

Representatives from the United States, Europe and Latin America were invited to participate in the Bogotá-held forum, although the date has yet to be announced.

The Venezuelan government has not commented on the proposed Venezuela-centered forum nor confirmed if President Maduro or a delegation will take part.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15735

Ladies and gentlemen, we have been found out. We are part of an “international swarm” at the service of “Chavista narratives”! The bombshell revelations came from right-wing US-funded outlet Efecto Cocuyo. Join us for this fun ride of mediocre journalism and paranoia!

Read the thread: https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1642737716772192257

#News | The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the use of unilateral coercive measures as means to exert political and economic pressure, particularly on least developed and developing countries.

The resolution was presented by Azerbaijan on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries during the body’s 52nd session in Geneva and contains 35 points that criticize the use of unilateral coercive measures, also known as sanctions, and their negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights.

The text of the resolution explicitly calls on all States to “stop adopting, maintaining, implementing or complying with unilateral coercive measures not in accordance with international law, international humanitarian law, [and] the Charter of the United Nations.”

The document further calls for “removal” of unilateral coercive measures and condemns their application and enforcement as “tools of pressure” by “certain powers” as means of limiting the sovereignty of states to determine their political, economic and social systems, particularly against least developed and developing countries.

The language reflects the increased use of sanctions by the United States and its allies as means of coercion against states that do not align with Washington’s interests.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15736

#Opinion | In my previous column, I expressed some serious concerns about the construction of a 70-million-dollar baseball stadium in Caracas. Was it the right thing to do amidst so many problems? Was it appropriate to prioritize sports over issues such as education or healthcare?

As it turned out, a mere couple of weeks later, government revelations dwarfed my dilemma: a mafia operating in the state oil company (PDVSA) and the Crypto Assets Superintendency (SUNACRIP) allegedly siphoned off some $3 billion from the oil industry. Around 40 stadiums, give or take…

Furthermore, a few media outlets ventured that the plundering of PDVSA can be even more serious after a series of intermediaries were simply allowed to take crude cargoes without paying. That’s why the new PDVSA president and oil minister, Pedro Tellechea, decided to suspend contracts and begin demanding payment upfront.

As a result of the ongoing anti-corruption probe, there are currently 10 public officials and 11 businessmen behind bars. But I think there are a lot of things to unpack. In my view, they show that in political terms, Venezuela is completely adrift.

Read the latest column by Jessica Dos Santos:

https://venezuelanalysis.com/tales-resistance/15737

#Opinion | On Sunday, opposition politician Juan Guaidó posted a video on social media claiming the Venezuelan government was moments away from issuing an arrest order against him, inadvertently expressing the hopes of the majority to see him behind bars once and for all.

Reactions to the video were of the hilarious variety, with one user saying he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night while another one wrote: “usurping [government] functions, allying with foreign powers and stealing the nation’s assets is a crime. I'm telling you in case your lawyers haven't.”

Comments came from both opposition and Chavista followers who coincide on one thing (and this does not happen often!): Guaidó and acolytes have been greatly responsible for the Venezuelan people’s suffering by endorsing Washington’s economic warfare, which has enabled the mass killing of the population.

But being supposedly unaware of one’s crimes while openly confessing to them, especially when you are a US puppet or warmongering imperialist, seems common these days. Just recently, US Senator Marco Rubio gave an interview with fake news propagandist Fox News. There he expressed concern about the US dollar losing its position as the world’s dominant currency after China and Brazil struck a deal to trade in their own currencies.

Rubio’s concerns were centered on one specific thing as he eloquently explained it: “We won’t have to talk about sanctions in five years, because there’ll be so many countries transacting in currencies other than the dollar that we won’t have the ability to sanction them.”

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15738

#Interview | "At the end of the day, the mestizaje discourse is discriminatory, but it’s alive and well. Twenty-three years after the beginning of the Bolivarian Process, if you turn on Telesur or Venezolana de Televisión [state-run TV outlets], how many black anchors will you see? How many people are invited to talk about Afro culture on those platforms? How many ministers or deputies are Afro-descendants?

Unfortunately, racism hasn’t vanished, but it comes draped in the discourse of mestizaje. Many deny the racist character of our society: they say that we are all a bit indigenous, a bit Afro, a bit white; that we are not like South Africa or the United States. However, what we find in our society is far more than vestiges of racism. The struggle to overcome structural racism within the state is ongoing, and it is led by social movements and a network of Afro-Venezuelan organizations."

Jesús “Chucho” García is an intellectual and activist, founder of the Network of Afro-Venezuelan Organizations and a member of the National Decolonization Commission. In this interview, García talks about Afro-descendants’ history of struggle, the advances in the Bolivarian Process, and the pending task of building a truly inclusive society.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/15739

#News | The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed Venezuela’s preliminary objections in a case brought forward by Guyana concerning the sovereignty over the Essequibo Strip.

The two-neighboring South American countries have an unresolved border dispute going back to colonial times. In 2018, Guyana asked the Hague-based court to confirm the validity of a border drawn by an 1899 Paris tribunal.

On Thursday, ICJ Chief Justice Joan Donoghue announced that, by a majority of 14 to 1, the court had decided to dismiss Venezuela’s objection that the United Kingdom, as ruler of what was British Guiana in 1899, should also take part in the case.

The court had previously ruled against Caracas in determining that it has jurisdiction to hear arguments on the dispute. Venezuela will now have to present its “Counter-Memorial” to back its position. A hearing schedule is not presently known.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15740

🇻🇪🎙️ In this podcast episode, we discuss the recent corruption revelations, what they mean for the Bolivarian Process and whether the US-backed opposition will finally pay for its crimes.

Subscribe now for early access to the episode!

→ https://www.patreon.com/posts/81267670

21 years ago, the US-backed Venezuelan elites launched a coup and temporarily ousted President Hugo Chávez. Sadly for them, the Venezuelan people had other plans. This infographic recaps the key moments

https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15500