Leer en Español
The world event that has drawn the most attention from the press, academia, and public opinion is undoubtedly the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the reaction of the West. Basically: the European Union, the United States, and some of its partners in the Indo-Pacific region governed by liberal-democratic political systems such as Japan, Korea, and Australia, together are leading the cataract of economic, commercial, and diplomatic sanctions that today weigh on Russia.
The fundamental argument for the activation of all these sanctions has been that the Russian government has broken with the fundamental principles of international law, disrespecting the sovereignty and territoriality of Ukraine. In addition to all the destruction, pain, and horror generated by this war due to the death of civilians and war crimes committed by Russia on the invaded territory.
Specifically, in the case of the United States, 8% of Russian crude oil exports go to the American market, which is why President Biden announced the inclusion of a ban on the export of Russian crude oil within the framework of the package of sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow as a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine.
But the economy is still on the move and the US market still has a need for oil. Now, the big question is how to fill the energy gap in the United States. The logical and obvious answer is for the United States to increase its domestic oil production, as pointed out by former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (now U.S. senator), but this may be delayed somewhat and it may not be possible to meet the immediate need generated by the ban on Russian crude.
The second option within this logical line is for the United States to fill the oil demand gap by buying oil from Canada, a country that is its T-MEC partner and is logistically very close to it. Even the options within America do not end there; for example, it can also buy oil from Brazil, Colombia, or Ecuador.
Incredibly, the Biden administration seeks to supply Russian oil with crude from Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. Let us remember that Iran is a country with multiple sanctions, both for being associated with terrorism and for its secret nuclear program behind the back of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Still in the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia is home to dozens of Russian oligarchs’ yachts, even their airplanes and, of course, their fortunes are well protected in Saudi banks. In crude oil, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Putin’s great friend, has given sure protection to the Russian president’s associates.
Then there is oil-producing Venezuela, located south of the Caribbean. A nation under multiple sanctions since the times when Biden himself was vice-president and where there is even a millionaire reward for the head of Caracas’ own autocrat Nicolás Maduro, among other hierarchs.
A government about which all kinds of literature and official reports abound, such as the World Drug Report, which evidences the involvement of high authorities of Maduro’s narco-tyranny and its criminal apparatus such as the so-called “Cartel of the Suns.” Not to mention the crimes against humanity reported since 2014 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR.)
The confirmation of negotiations between a High Level Commission of the Biden Administration (besides being totally contradictory, since the government of Washington itself recognizes Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela,) is an act that constitutes a clear expression of the bewilderment of the foreign policy of the United States.
The Democratic administration and its humiliating surrender to the narco-tyranny-neocommunist Maduro seals indefinitely the minimum possibility of a return to democracy in the Caribbean country.
Nahem Reyes is a PhD in history from the Andrés Bello Catholix University and associate member of the American Studies Center of the Central University of Venezuela. // Nahem Reyes es doctor en Historia de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello y miembro asociado del Centro de Estudios de América de la Universidad Central de Venezuela.