Venezuela opposition will name new Citgo board this week: WSJ

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Venezuela’s self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido, will name a new board for Citgo Petroleum Corp this week, Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

Citgo, the eighth-largest U.S. refiner and owned by Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), is Venezuela’s top foreign asset.

But the United States has imposed sanctions on PDVSA as part of Washington’s bid to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down after he was re-elected last year in a vote critics have called a sham. The U.S. actions have, in turn, squeezed Citgo.

Venezuela’s opposition said on Wednesday it would use income accrued by Citgo since last month to finance its efforts to dislodge Maduro.

-snip-

WORLD NEWS FEBRUARY 6, 2019 / 9:53 PM / UPDATED 13 MINUTES AGO


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-citgo/venezuela-opposition-will-name-new-citgo-board-this-week-wsj-idUSKCN1PW07J

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Related: Venezuela’s Opposition Leader Guaidó to Name New Citgo Board, Sen. Rubio Says (Wall Street Journal)

[sandensea]

1. Key words there being: 'Narco Rubio told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday'

Meaning that it's all in that little head of his, and in any case is mostly theater.

[yaesu]

2. The real pres should tell the fake US puppet wannabe pres to take a flying leap

and I don't want to hear any whining about oh how bad that socialist is, we have no business fucking over another country south of the border and anyone backed by repugs and their big money corporate handlers is evil.

[oldsoftie]

5. The "real pres" is Guaido, according to the VZ constitution.

whatever it takes to rid that country of Maduro.
Tens of thousands are dead and more people are starving in the streets and we're more worried about "republicans"?

[Perseus]

8. You are 100% correct

You have summarized it very well.

[oldsoftie]

12. Thank you.

[Perseus]

6. Two possible reasons for comments like yours

1. Like the Russians do, you are part of the Venezuelan regime and are here to troll DU
2. That you have not had the time to do proper research to understand the current situation in Venezuela. Just by looking at the pictures from last two weeks you would realize the immense popularity Guaido has in the country, and at the same time by looking at the less than 100 people in Maduro's rallies, you will also come to the conclusion that Maduro and his regime are immensely unpopular.

Venezuelans WANT intervention from the coalition that has built up from the USA/Colombia/Brazil/and the European Union, Guiado has been recognized by most of the World as the legitimate president of Venezuela, on the other hand, Maduro has been declared an illegitimate president.

Maduro was born in Colombia, his immediate family still lives there, by the constitution he has never been a legitimate president, he was appointed by a dying Chavez who took orders from the Castro brothers.

Venezuelans are suffering, the Maduro regime is a dictatorship, a kleptocracy, with very strong links to drug traffic, with terrorist groups, with a militia that terrorizes the population on a daily basis, kidnapping has become one of the major "industries" in the country, there is no food, no medicines, the brain power has left the country, etc. etc.

As I do when I answer someone who I think does not understand the realities of Venezuela, I always suggest that you spend a week in Venezuela, and if you are lucky to come back alive, then tell us about the wonders you see there.

[GatoGordo]

10. "We" aren't taking over shit. The Venezuelans are reasserting their freedom

Perhaps if the Castroists got their claws out of Venezuela, they wouldn't be having this crisis?

[Mr. Sparkle]

3. Hmmmm... and there is my problem with the coup, its all about the oil.

everywhere i look in this their are no good guys , just bad guys.

[Perseus]

7. Please read my post above yours

Yes, oil may have something to do with it, but Venezuela's oil industry is 1/2 of what it used to be, the regime has destroyed its infrastructure, all the money has been funneled into their pockets. From day one Chavez removed the people who run PDVSA, and placed cronies in those positions who did not and still do not know how to run the Venezuelan oil industry. They were placed in those positions to funnel the money into the regimes personal pockets, not to run it, and now the infrastructure is in chaos. Venezuela doesn't not produce the same volume it produced before Chavez regime.

Cuba has no oil, but during Chavez, they became oil exporters. How did that happen? Chavez gave the oil to Cuba who in turn sold it somewhere else, and all the money went to the Castro.

Venezuelans want the coalition to help remove Maduro and his minions, the people cannot do it because the military is corrupt, they have also enriched themselves beyond anyone expectations, the Cubans have infiltrated the military in high positions because they want to defend the Maduro regime, Cuba benefits so much from the regime they cannot let it go, and in the mean time they are robbing everything from the Venezuelans who have no food to buy, no medicines, no freedom.

Russia has also been placing military personnel in Venezuela, it is a very strategic area for Putin to go against the USA. To think that this is only about the oil is limited analysis of the situation, there is more at stake in protecting Venezuela than oil, I am puzzled why the Bush and Obama administrations allowed it to reach the critical point that it did, USA should have intervened many years ago, the Cuban-Castro filth has spread like cancer in other countries in S. America, that is not good for the USA, its not good for the World.

[sweetapogee]

9. very well said

One of the many reasons for Venezuela's 10,000+/- annual inflation rate is that the national treasury which pays most of the bills ultimately to overseas suppliers for goods/services and loans to the government, have long stopped paying their bills. That works for a time but is a turn-off to investors looking ahead.

Venezuela has also tried to pay obligations in kind with crude oil. The problem is their crude is difficult and costly to refine and there are few refineries in the world capable of even doing it. To complicate things, due to hasty packaging and a lack of QC, some of the crude coming out of the country is so full of water and other impurities that it simply cannot be refined at a price that makes it market competitive.

When OPEC, an organization Venezuela has influence in, when OPEC started lowering crude prices that was the event that started the country on it's economic decline. Oil needs to trade at not much lower than $70.00/barrel for Venezuela to break even, given it's domestic spending. A large portion of the population got very used to being provided for by the Chavez government in adequate style when Oil was trading $80+ now it's down around $60

How the situation is ultimately resolved remains to be seen but economic turmoil present and the lack of any meaningful attempt to correct it looks to me like the government will fall on it's own without any outside help. Everyone knows this but with all things different parties have their preferred outcome and will try to obtain that outcome. There is zero chance in my opinion that there will be any military intervention by overseas forces unless a force unpalatable to the region makes an aggressive move. The US has little to gain as we have one of the few refineries that can process their crude so we get a slice of the pie regardless.

Venezuela has a tremendous asset with it's oil fields but the country needs to look to the future and develop alternate industries and agriculture. If they don't they will always be a slave to the market price of their inferior quality of crude oil. They are very much reliant on food and medicine imports which is fine when oil is selling at $130/barrel but that is not a guarantee. And to be fair they are not the only oil rich country that depends on their crude for the bulk of their revenue. As a good friend once told me you can't eat or wear crude oil!

[GatoGordo]

11. And the coup that the Chavistas just celebrated on Feb. 4?

I find it hypocritical for people to caterwaul about "Coup B" while ignoring their very own "Coup A", which occurred Feb. 4, 1992.

[oldsoftie]

13. Thats right; Russians, Iranians & Cubans all are in VZ trying to prop up Maduro.

[oldsoftie]

4. Good. The more moves the legitimate govt makes, the better for the poor citizens of VZ

If hes able to actually start doing business as the "govt in exile" so to speak, Maduro weakness will fester and he will become even weaker. It will only take a couple generals to step forward and 90% of the troops will follow
Its past time to rid VZ of this cancerous dictatorship.