Chris Slee writes: The joint statement claims that: "Trump has rejected Maduro’s proposal to hand over all the country’s oil and minerals in exchange for remaining in power, as reported by the New York Times." The New York Times is not a reliable source of information about Venezuela. Maduro made no such offer.
I have no idea how Chris knows whether Maduro did or did not make such an offer but two things to note: * Unlike other occasions where Maduro has publicly refuted media claims about deals or discussions with the US (the latest example was just a couple of days ago when he rejected claims he had a second phone call with Trump https://www.aporrea.org/tiburon/n413920.html ) he has never said this deal was not offered. * Maduro's actions in seeking a rapproachment with US imperialism mean even close observers of Venezuelan politics who hold a "critical support for Maduro" position do not rule out that such a deal was offered: > > Asked about an article published in The New York Times in October that > claimed that secret negotiations around Venezuela’s resources were taking > place in order to avoid a military conflict, [Steve] Ellner said the > chance they succeed should not be dismissed entirely. “Maduro,” claimed > Ellner, “is willing to make concessions … which would allow Trump to spin > a narrative that the U.S. got what it wants.” Such concessions might > include handing over individuals accused of being involved in the drug > trade as well as “concessions regarding Venezuela’s oil reserves.” > https://truthout.org/articles/experts-say-even-average-venezuelans-critical-of-maduro-wont-back-regime-change/ > > > Chris Slee also writes: The joint statement says that "the US transnational Chevron continues to operate in Venezuela and is the main exploiter and exporter of Venezuelan oil." It is true that Chevron operates in Venezuela, as part of a joint venture with the state oil company PDVSA. However Chevron is not the "main" exporter. These days most of Venezuela's oil exports go to China. Technically speaking, we could say PDVSA is be the "main exploited and exporter of Venezuelan oil" though the fact it has largely surrendered control over operations and sales in unconstitutional deals signed with oil companies under the Anti-Blockade Law at least puts a question mark over this issue. But leaving this issue to one side, even if most of Venezuela's exports go to China, Chevron's investments in four joint ventures that account for about 20-25% of Venezuela's oil production still make it the single largest foreign exploiter and exporter of oil operating in Venezuela. Privately-owned Chinese companies have only recently started operating in Venezuela, while the Chinese state oil company CNPC left several years ago https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/chinese-company-installs-oil-platform-in-venezuelas-maracaibo-lake/. No other foreign company operates on the scale that Chevron does in Venezuela. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39991): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39991 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116982259/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
