Yvan Gil
CARACAS.- The Venezuelan Government issued a warning to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as those that make up the UN General Assembly, about the impact on the “world economy” that the blockade ordered by the Trump administration on sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela will generate.
“The blockade and piracy against Venezuelan energy trade will affect the supply of oil and energy, increase the instability of international markets, hit the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, especially in the most vulnerable countries,” stressed the statement read by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, in a broadcast on the state channel.
«ESCALATION OF AGGRESSIONS»
The document, signed by President Nicolás Maduro, warned about “an escalation of aggressions” of “extreme severity” with effects not only in Venezuela, but also “threatens to destabilize” “the entire region.”
The president questioned that energy “cannot become a weapon of war or an instrument of political coercion.” Venezuela called for the “immediate cessation of military deployment, blockade and armed attacks” by the United States.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES SANCTIONS DRAFT
Meanwhile, the National Assembly with a pro-government majority approved a bill that imposes prison sentences of 15 to 20 years on “any person who promotes, instigates, requests, invokes, favors, facilitates, supports, finances or participates in actions of piracy, blockade and other international crimes against legal entities that carry out commercial operations with the Republic and its entities.”
The legislative body met on December 22 in an extraordinary session, but it did not take more than half to analyze and approve the instrument called the Law to Guarantee Freedom of Navigation and Commerce, proposed by deputy Giuseppe Alessandrello.
“International law establishes that the blockade in times of peace is an illegal act; only the United Nations Security Council can authorize it,” Alessandrello said when presenting his initiative.
OIL PRICE SUFFERS CONSEQUENCES
These measures have affected the world price of oil, which rose on December 22 after the US Coast Guard attempted to intercept a third oil tanker.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures gained $1.47, up 2.4%, to settle at $61.94 a barrel around 18:30 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.37, also up 2.4%, to settle at $57.89 a barrel.
Venezuelan crude represents 1% of global supply, and most of it is purchased by China, but markets have begun to show deeper concern than they had originally anticipated about an eventual withdrawal of Venezuelan supply.
However, the rise in prices could also be related to the recent attacks with Ukrainian drones against Russian ships in Black Sea ports, according to estimates by the oil trade advisory firm, ‘Ritterbusch and Associates’, cited by the Reuters agency.
PANAMA JUSTIFIES ACTIONS AGAINST OIL CARRIER
Panama gave a boost to US actions in the Caribbean against sanctioned ships coming from or going to Venezuela.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the isthmus country detailed that the last oil tanker that the United States tried to intercept near the coast of Venezuela, a Panamanian-flagged vessel, did not respect the country’s maritime regulations and had disconnected its transponder while sailing out of Venezuelan waters with a cargo of crude oil.
This was reported by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Javier Martínez-Achá, in a television interview, in which he added that they would take the corresponding measures, without giving more details on the matter.
A country that provides its flag to a ship officially registered in its registry can cancel the registration if an investigation determines that it did not comply with maritime regulations, Reuters explained.
The Centuries supertanker, detected by the United States Coast Guard on December 20 after leaving Venezuela, was flying the Panamanian flag.
This is the second tanker that Washington sought to intercept last weekend under the orders of Donald Trump and the third after the intensification of United States efforts to cut off the flow of crude oil from Venezuela, within the growing pressure that the White House exerts on the Maduro Government.
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