Washington’s sanctions against Venezuela and the dead-end of Chavismo
By
Eric London
2 August 2017
On Monday, in response to Venezuela’s disputed election of a constituent assembly the day before, the Trump administration announced sanctions against President Nicholas Maduro, freezing his assets and threatening further economic measures against the government and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in announcing the sanctions. Maduro joins a list of world leaders against whom the US has imposed personal sanctions, including Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad, and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. In the not-so-subtle language of US imperialism, the message is clear: Hussein and Gaddafi are dead, Assad and Kim threatened with assassination and regime change.
Monday’s sanctions were more limited in scope than some observers expected and are aimed at sending a message to members of the PSUV and the Venezuelan military that the US will escalate pressure until Maduro is toppled.
US officials coupled Monday’s announcement with threats to impose economic sanctions on Venezuelan oil. These could include barring the state-owned oil company PDVSA from trading in US dollars or blocking US imports of Venezuelan crude oil.
Such measures would cripple Venezuela’s economy and likely force PDVSA into default. Venezuela is heavily dependent upon trade with the US, exporting 740,000 barrels of crude per day to the country in 2016. Venezuela also imports US light crude that it uses to dilute its own heavy crude for refinement.
The imposition of these…