CARACAS — Iran’s oil minister has paid an official visit to ally Venezuela to meet President Nicolas Maduro and discuss ways to “overcome” the effects of US sanctions against both nations, officials said.

“I received His Excellency Javad Owji, Oil Minister of the sister Islamic Republic of Iran,” Maduro said on Twitter, calling it a “a productive meeting to deepen the ties of brotherhood and cooperation in energy matters.”

State television showed images of the meeting at the presidential palace in Miraflores.

Earlier, Owji met his counterpart Tareck El Aissami to discuss “the construction of routes and mechanisms to overcome the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States government and allied countries,” according to a statement from the Venezuelan Oil Ministry.

Javad Owji’s visit to Venezuela, which sits on the world’s largest proven reserves of crude, came just weeks after a visit by United States officials in the midst of rising global oil prices due to the war on Ukraine.

In March, a US delegation held a hushed meeting with Maduro, whose very legitimacy as president Washington disputes.

Iran is a major oil producer and said last month that production capacity was back to levels before the reimposition of US sanctions in 2018.

El Aissami, named a narcotics “kingpin” by the United States which has placed him on a most-wanted fugitives list, posted a video on Instagram Monday of him receiving Owji at his office with a handshake.

Bilateral ties between the two oil producers were strong under the reign of socialist leader Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) and bolstered further under his successor Maduro.

Venezuela, under strict US sanctions that it blames for the collapse of its once-flourishing oil industry, has strong allies in Iran, Russia and China.

In 2020, Venezuela received two shiploads of fuel and derivatives from Iran to help address crippling domestic shortages. Just a few years earlier, it was still the United States’ main supplier.

Also in 2020, on a visit to Caracas, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said his country would remain on Venezuela’s “side.”

The March meeting with Maduro caused questions to be raised in Washington, prompting the White House to clarify it was not in “active conversation” with Venezuela on oil imports.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-oil-minister-meets-venezuelas-maduro-for-talks-on-overcoming-sanctions/

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Venezuela welcomed this week its first diesel cargo since November 2020, a fuel that the country sitting atop the world’s largest oil reserves has been forced to ration, similar to gasoline.

The tanker, carrying nearly 500,000 barrels of diesel, began discharging the fuel on Monday. Bueno departed from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the middle of last month, passed the Suez Canal earlier this month, and then turned off its transponder, while Lome in Togo is entered as a final destination, according to MarineTraffic.

It wasn’t immediately clear who provided the diesel cargo, Reuters noted.

The U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, the recession, hyperinflation, and the years of underinvestment and mismanagement in the oil industry have resulted in acute fuel shortages in the country in recent years, although this country holds the world’s largest crude oil reserves, larger than those of Saudi Arabia.

Until the fourth quarter of 2020, the United States allowed crude-for-diesel swaps under which Venezuela was obtaining the fuel needed for agriculture and trucking. But the Trump administration tightened the screws on the regime in Q4 2020 and banned the crude-for-diesel swaps.

This resulted in shortages and paralyzed the agricultural sector in Venezuela, which continues to struggle with a deep recession and hyperinflation. The government of Nicolas Maduro started to ration diesel in Q4 when the crude-for-diesel swaps were banned.

Ahead of President Biden’s inauguration in January, officials from fuel suppliers to Venezuela said they planned to call on the new Administration to reverse the ban on the crude-for-fuel deals.

Earlier this month, Brian Nichols, nominee for assistant secretary of state for the western hemisphere, said at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as carried by Argus, that the Administration doesn’t plan to either ease the sanctions on Venezuela or allow the crude-for-diesel trade soon.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Source: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Venezuela-Imports-First-Diesel-Cargo-In-Six-Months.html

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The fall in oil exports has starved the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue, contributing to an economic collapse in the OPEC nation and leaving authorities short of cash for essential imports such as food and medicine.

Maduro has held onto power despite the sanctions, frustrating the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington and most Western democracies accuse Maduro of rigging a 2018 re-election vote.

Trump’s team has increased pressure in recent months, expanding its list of sanctioned entities to include Mexican companies, oil tankers, international shipping firms, and individuals that have played a role in Venezuela’s oil exports.

Tighter sanctions have scared away many remaining customers of state-run oil firm PDVSA, and some shipping firms that had carried their cargoes.

PDVSA and its joint ventures shipped a total of 17 cargoes in June, carrying about 379,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and refined products, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and the company’s loading schedules. The low volume, unseen since 1943, was almost 18% below May exports, according to the same data.

(For a graphic on exports by month, go here: tmsnrt.rs/2BgyyuM)

The country’s total crude output is slightly above those levels, according to daily PDVSA data seen by Reuters. PDVSA has had to cut output to match exports because most of the country’s oil storage is full.

That would put output at a little more than 10 percent of the nearly 3.5 million bpd the country pumped in the late 1990s. Back then, Venezuela was one of the powerhouses in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Now, Caracas is among the group’s minnows, even though it sits on some of the largest crude reserves in the world.

Sanctions have also left more than a dozen loaded tankers in limbo around the world as suppliers struggle to find final buyers for the cargoes. Several of those vessels are off the waters of Malaysia and Singapore.

Exports to Europe ticked up in June to 130,000 bpd, boosted by larger deliveries to Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s Eni, the PDVSA documents showed. Those shipments are permitted under exemptions for debt payments and swaps.

Shipments to Venezuela’s political ally Cuba also increased to 82,300 bpd from 67,000 bpd in May.

Heavy crude inventories at Venezuela’s Jose port, the country’s main oil terminal and storage site for exportable crude, closed the month at 14.5 million barrels versus a peak of 14.9 million barrels in mid-June, according to the PDVSA data.

Venezuela’s fuel imports also declined last month, to 66,000 bpd from 77,100 bpd the previous month as most arrivals of Iranian gasoline discharged in May.

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Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolás Maduro said he had been in talks with the Trump administration for months, even as the US ramped up its sanctions.

The US is one of more than 50 nations which do not recognize Mr. Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

On Tuesday, Mr. Maduro said that talks with the Trump administration had been going on for months.

But US National Security Adviser John Bolton said the only thing being discussed was Mr. Maduro’s departure.

Speaking on television, Mr. Maduro said: “Just as I have sought dialogue in Venezuela, I have sought a way in which President Trump really listens to Venezuela.”

President Trump confirmed on Tuesday that his administration was “talking to various representatives of Venezuela”.

“I don’t want to say who, but we are talking at a very high level,” the US president said.

Mr. Maduro had suggested that he authorized the back-channel discussions.

But Mr. Bolton cast those contacts in a very different light, tweeting that the “only items discussed by those who are reaching out behind Maduro’s back are his departure and free and fair elections”.

The US imposed sweeping sanctions earlier this month aimed at increasing pressure on President Maduro to step down.

• Venezuela crisis in 300 words
• What’s behind Venezuela’s political crisis?

What is the situation in Venezuela?

The country has been caught up in a struggle for power between President Maduro and the leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaidó.

Mr. Guaidó declared himself interim president in January, claiming that the elections which brought Maduro to power for a second term were fraudulent.

While Mr. Guaidó has gained the backing of over 50 countries he has so far failed to remove Mr. Maduro from power.

Talks between the two sides hosted by Barbados and mediated by Norway recently stalled after President Maduro denounced the opposition for backing the sweeping sanctions imposed by the US.

The country is suffering one of the worst economic crises in history with a quarter of its 30 million population in need of aid, according to the United Nations.

More than four million Venezuelans have left the country over the past years.

Why is the US involved?

Mr. Maduro’s government has come under fire by the international community for a number of reasons.

When opposition parties gained a majority in the country’s National Assembly, the president created a rival body stacked with his supporters which assumed many of its powers. His 2018 re-election was controversial and labeled as rigged by his critics after many rivals were barred from running or fled the country.

Protests and demonstrations erupted into violence and were met with a crackdown by authorities which saw civilians killed.

The US has been a frequent target of Mr. Maduro’s anger.

• US sanctions may worsen Venezuela suffering – UN
• ‘Corruption network’ in Venezuela’s food program

Mr. Maduro has accused the US, and John Bolton in particular, of trying to kill him, without supplying any evidence. He claims that his opposition is backed by foreign powers, rather than a domestic resistance to his authority.

Government officials were the first target of US sanctions against Mr. Maduro’s government – but earlier this year, it brought new restrictions forward on the state oil company, which is a major player in the national economy.

That was followed in August by sweeping sanctions that froze all property of the government in the US and blocks American firms doing business with Venezuela.

Source:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49418451

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BOGOTA, Colombia—The regime of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro lashed out at the country’s opposition-run congress this week by prosecuting some of its members for supporting new economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

Three opposition lawmakers were charged by the Supreme Court with treason and other crimes earlier. The pro-government legislature, created by Maduro to strip power from the country’s democratic congress, the National Assembly, also announced it would create a commission to evaluate holding 2020 legislative elections earlier, a move that might allow Maduro to reclaim power over the last democratically elected political institution.

Juan Guaidó, the head of congress who invoked the constitution to declare himself interim president on Jan. 23, denounced the move as another attempt to rule through fear and oppression. National Assembly members told The Epoch Times that Maduro’s latest move wouldn’t prevent them from continuing to work toward removing the “narco-dictator” from power.

The announcements followed Washington’s decision to slap the most aggressive sanctions to date on the country on Aug. 5. While excluding the private sector, as well as food, medicine, clothing, and humanitarian aid, the sanctions prevent foreign businesses from dealing with the government and could further decimate an economy already coping with six-digit inflation.

Maduro has promised a “counteroffensive” against those endorsing the sanctions to “bring justice to the sellouts and traitors.”

That “counteroffensive” began Aug. 12 when three lawmakers were charged by the Supreme Court—dominated by judges in Maduro’s party—with treason and conspiracy.

The National Constituent Assembly, also loyal to the government, opened the path to imprisoning Juan Pablo García Canales, José Ángel Guerra Brito, and Tomás Guanipa Villalobos by stripping their parliamentary immunity.

“The dictatorship has become predictable in the only tool it has left: persecution,” Guaidó wrote on Twitter in response to the announcement.

The court has charged 21 deputies with such crimes since 2018.

Deputies interviewed by The Epoch Times said that such measures were expected, and although serious, wouldn’t keep them from continuing their campaign to remove Maduro, who they said is already in his last days in power.

“Venezuela has advanced massively. Today, the only institution that is recognized nationally and internationally is the National Assembly, over which Juan Guaidó presides,” said Americo de Grazia, a member of congress who sought refuge in the Italian embassy in May, when he faced similar charges. “[Maduro’s camp] is already dislocated and has no way out.”

Targeting the National Assembly

It also was announced by the pro-Maduro legislature on Aug. 12 that a commission would be created to look into holding 2020 legislative elections early.

Maduro’s regime already has invoked a number of measures to make the National Assembly impotent but doesn’t currently control it. In March 2017, the Supreme Court took steps to absorb its functions but abandoned the move as international opposition to the move intensified.

Analysts say Maduro is avoiding moves to dissolve the Assembly as it would likely provoke too strong of a reaction from Guaidó’s allies, such as the United States.

“Any attack against the [National Assembly] is an attack on democracy. The National Assembly is the only democratic and legitimate institution in Venezuela and it represents the hopes and aspirations of all Venezuelans against a tyrannical regime,” the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela wrote on Twitter, following growing speculation about a full National Assembly shutdown.

Short of regaining control of the institution, or dissolving it entirely—which risks further retaliation from the United States—there are few options left for Maduro, said Geoff Ramsey, assistant director for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America advocacy group.

“Maduro is running out of cards to play. Either closing the National Assembly or stripping enough of its opposition members of immunity to ensure the opposition lacks quorum will be hugely costly,” Ramsey said, pointing out that the government had already announced the same measures in February, showing the scarcity of remaining options.

Source: https://www.theepochtimes.com/venezuelas-maduro-launches-counteroffensive-against-opposition-in-retaliation-to-us-sanctions_3042141.html

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Go ahead.  Look at the headlines of the major “news” outlets.  Try tuning in to the mainstream news networks or cable channels, and you’ll know what full-blown insanity looks like.  Up to this point, the writers, anchors and their guests have been somewhat clever in their linking of millions of American citizens to mass shootings and white supremacy.  They couched their accusations in terms that stopped just short of saying that President Trump and all who support his agenda were directly guilty of heinous crimes, and of course, white supremacy.

That changed this week.  In the wake of the El Paso Walmart massacre, the socialist candidates and mainstream media decided to go all the way.  The Walmart shooter (or somebody) posted a lengthy manifesto just prior to his hideous rampage which killed and injured random shoppers who had no idea what was happening.  You won’t hear it on the news, but he wrote that his emotional fury about the out-of-control flood across America’s southern border predated the presidency of Donald Trump, but said the fake news would probably blame Trump anyway.  Interestingly enough, that’s not the part that’s being reported.

But then there was another mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.  This guy was fascinated with “extreme violence” and was a big supporter of violent Antifa activities.  Somehow, the mainstream knows nothing about him.  Last night the butch Mayor of Chicago said, “We still don’t know anything about the Dayton shooter.”  We don’t?!?  In fact, we know quite a bit, and it doesn’t fit the mainstream narrative.  But the Mayor of Chicago claimed not to know, and the interviewer let the statement go by unchallenged.  Sure, “news” people have no inkling about information already published and known by millions of Americans.  It’s incredible what they don’t know, or pretend not to know.

It’s gotten to the point where you can’t even check the mainstream to see what they’re saying without having them directly accuse you and everybody else who loves the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence or the Bible of being a bunch of racist accomplices to mass murder. The gaggle of presidential hopefuls have spoken almost as if one voice.  “It’s Trump’s fault.  His rhetoric instigated the mass murder in El Paso.  He has blood on his hands.  His supporters are all accomplices.”  That’s an accurate paraphrasing of what they’re all saying.  The bug-eyed sputterer said, “Trump izth directly rethponthible,” trying to downplay his carefully crafted speech impediment.

This, they believe is the best way to defeat logic, common sense, and any who dare use either.  Declare everyone who doesn’t demand an all-pervading socialist, gay, “diverse” and GREEN authoritarian gun-confiscating federal government a bunch of racist murderers.  That ought to fix us!

The strategy of the elite, the mainstream, the global warming diversity movement is becoming clearer by the minute.  They’ll accuse whoever won’t go along guilty of the most vile, evil, dangerous thoughts and motives.  After the murderous events in El Paso, Dayton, and one narrowly prevented in Springfield, Missouri, we’re all wondering how safe it is to be anywhere there’s a crowd.  But the major papers and networks are busy declaring all patriotic Americans accomplices to murderous racism.

It seems that Venezuela may remain in the hands of the ruinous socialist regime longer than anticipated.  It has managed to stay afloat by doing business with Turkey, China, and Russia, successfully eluding the full effect of U. S. sanctions.  So the Trump administration has slapped sanctions on several top regime officials.  It might not bring the regime down, but it will have an impact, just as it has in Iran.  Maybe Venezuela will be the new Cuba, destined for long-term poverty under the brutal totalitarianism of a socialist/communist dictatorship.

Europe continues to live with the blight and ever-present threat of violent attack from the Middle Easterners and Northern Africans imported under the insistence of the pope and German Chancellor.  The fact that daily incidents don’t rate notice in American headlines doesn’t mean they’re not occurring.  They are, and it’s enough to make you cry.

We’ll see if any meaningful action is taken against the big tech conglomerates.  They are primarily responsible for shaping public opinion, and every one of these major outlets is sworn to re-define what is truth, and make sure no one with common sense ever rises to a position of leadership again.  This is the kind of deception foretold for the end time in the prophecies of the Bible, and we now see how they’re going to pull it off.

Mark

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

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