Venezuelas US-Backed Coup Leader Immediately Targets State Oil Company and
Requests IMF Money
January 25, 2019
Unelected U.S.-backed coup leader Juan Guaidó immediately moved to try to
restructure Venezuelas state-owned oil company and seek financing from the
neoliberal IMF, reports Ben Norton of The Gray Zone.
US Anointed President Moves to
Seize National Petroleum Company
By Ben Norton
The Gray Zone
The right-wing opposition leader that the United States is trying to
undemocratically install as Venezuelas president immediately set his sights
on the countrys state-owned oil company, which he is hoping to restructure
and move toward privatization. He is also seeking money from the notorious
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fund his unelected government.
On January 23, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized the little-known,
U.S.-educated opposition politician Juan Guaidó as the supposed interim
president of Venezuela. Within 48 hours, Guaidó quickly tried to seize
control of Venezuelas major US-based oil refiner and use its revenue to
help bankroll his US-backed coup regime.
Guaidó is attempting to fire the directors of Citgo Petroleum, which is
owned by Venezuelas state oil company PDVSA, and seeks to appoint his own
new board.
Reuters described Citgo as Venezuelas most important foreign asset;
Bloomberg calls it the crown jewel of PDVSAs assets.
Citgo is the largest purchaser of Venezuelan oil, although crippling
sanctions imposed by the Trump administration have prevented the company
from sending revenue to Venezuela, starving the government of funding.
Citing US officials, The Washington Post reported that the Trump
administrations strategy is to use the newly declared interim government
as a tool to deny Maduro the oil revenue from the United States that
provides Venezuela virtually all of its incoming cash.
Move Toward Privatizing Venezuelas Oil
A building of the national oil company, PDVSA. (Wikimedia Commons)
Venezuela has the worlds largest oil reserves. But leftist presidents Hugo
Chávez and Nicolás Maduro have over the past two decades resisted attempts
by US oil companies to exploit the South American nations plentiful natural
resources.
The oil reporting agency S&P Global Platts reported that, in the immediate
wake of the U.S. anointing Juan Guaidó as Venezuelas supposed president,
the opposition leader already drafted plans to introduce a new national
hydrocarbons law that establishes flexible fiscal and contractual terms for
projects adapted to oil prices and the oil investment cycle.
This plan would involve the creation of a new hydrocarbons agency that
would offer bidding rounds for projects in natural gas and conventional,
heavy and extra-heavy crude.
In other words, these are rapid moves to privatize Venezuelas oil and open
the door for multinational corporations.
As The Grayzone previously reported, Venezuelas right-wing opposition has
already stated clearly in its transition plans: Public companies will be
subject to a restructuring process that ensures their efficient and
transparent management, including through public-private agreements.
S&P Global Platts also indicated that US sanctions are hitting Venezuela
hard, and Trump administration officials could soon tighten the screws.
Coup Financing from Neoliberal IMF
The attempted restructuring of Citgo would just be the beginning of the
neoliberal capitalist policies implemented by Venezuelas U.S.-backed coup
regime.
Reuters also reported that Guaidó is considering a request for funds from
international institutions including the IMF to finance his interim
government.
The International Monetary Fund is notorious as a vehicle for U.S. political
and economic influence. For decades, the IMF, along with the World Bank, has
trapped ostensibly independent Latin American nations in debt and imposed
so-called structural adjustment programs that force governments to impose
brutal neoliberal shock therapy on their populations, including austerity
measures, privatization of state assets, deregulation, and gutting of social
services.
In addition to seeking financing from the IMF, Guaidó is likewise trying to
send a new representative to the Inter-American Development Bank.
Venezuelas right-wing opposition has made it clear that it plans to pursue
aggressive neoliberal capitalist reforms. The opposition-controlled National
Assembly has also declared in its transition plans that the centralized
model of controls of the economy will be replaced by a model of freedom and
market based on the right of each Venezuelan to work under the guarantees of
property rights and freedom of enterprise.
This plan might be a dream for foreign corporations, but even many
Venezuelans marching against their government might soon decide that
stripping state assets is not worth fighting for.
Ben Norton is a journalist and writer. He is a reporter for The Grayzone,
and the producer of the Moderate Rebelspodcast, which he co-hosts with Max
Blumenthal. His website is BenNorton.com, and he tweets at @BenjaminNorton.