The Venezuelan Confederation of Industrials (Conindustria) reported that the production of the sector grew by 16.8% in 2024. The enthusiasm for the numbers of the recent past does not seem to be accompanied by the new realities. The United States notified PDVSA members to Contracts with the Venezuelan state oil company have been canceled. The measure, which in principle pointed to Chevron, one of the engines of the improvement of the Venezuelan economy, also includes another American company, Global Oil Terminals, as well as the Spanish Repsol, Italian Eni, French Maurel & Prom and Industry Reliance. The decision adopted by President Donald Trump is a serious blow to PDVSA that is accompanied by a complementary and equally hard sanction: the imposition of 25% tariffs on exports to the United States of countries that acquire Venezolna from now on.
All the mentioned companies had received permits to operate with Venezuelan crude in their refineries around the world. The benefit had been granted by the Democrat’s administration Joe Biden with the purpose of creating better political conditions for the presidential elections of July 28 in Venezuela. The elections had a series of controversial aspects, including the re -election of Nicolás Maduro without presenting the acts that would validate it.
Before concluding his mandate, Biden resumed the path of hardness to Caracas and recognized Edmundo González Urrutia as “elected president” in the contest. His successor deepened the path of bilateral tension. Foreign oil companies operating in Venezuelan territory expected Washington’s announcement and had suspended raw imports. Repsol and Reliance, with great presence in the United States, had requested authorization to operate in Venezuela and avoid incurring sanctions.
By virtue of the ads, the oil companies have until the end of May to liquidate their operations in Venezuela. The Miraflores Palace had warmed the hope of maintaining pragmatic relations from Trump from Agreement for the repatriation of migrants and the crisis of the global energy market as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which assigned Venezuela a circumstantial supplier role to countries that did not sympathize with Maduro. The enthusiasm was ephemeral. The official forecasts were not fulfilled and The government faces an extremely complicated economic landscape.
“We are not a colony of anyone”
Maduro trusted the situation will be “faced, controlled and overcome” because the time of “the orders in English” is ended in the Caribbean country, which, he said, is not “no one colony.” Venezuela, he highlighted, “is a free country” that wanted “having respect, cooperation, communication.” The Americans “decided to assault the entire world, there they, who lose are them, we wanted to have civilized respect for respect.”
Despite the new and complex scenario, Venezuela received a new plane with 175 Venezuelans residing in the United States. Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabellohe received them at Maiquetía airport, on the outskirts of Caracas and recalled that migrants were “undergoing persecution and a mistreatment” when the alleged members of the transnational band were Aragua train. The Government of the Republican Magnate has installed “a great lie” in order to “stigmatize and criminalize Venezuelans.”
