Iran fuel shipment nears Venezuelan shores, Maduro thanks Tehran

By Deisy Buitrago and Marianna Parraga

 

FILE PHOTO: People with vehicles wait in line in an attempt to refuel at a gas station of the state oil company PDVSA in Maracaibo, Venezuela, May 17, 2019. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo

 

CARACAS (Reuters) - The lead vessel of a five-tanker flotilla carrying fuel supplied by Iran to gasoline-thirsty Venezuela neared one of state-run PDVSA's ports as President Nicolas Maduro thanked Tehran on Sunday.

 

Iran is providing Venezuela with 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and components in a move criticized by U.S. authorities as both nations are under Washington's sanctions, according to the governments, sources and calculations by TankerTrackers.com.

 

Tanker Fortune was due to arrive at PDVSA's El Palito port, close to the capital Caracas, according to a company source and Refinitiv Eikon data showing its trajectory. A second vessel, the Forest, entered the Caribbean Sea on Saturday. The three remaining vessels were crossing the Atlantic.

 

PDVSA did not reply to a request for comment on the exact content of the cargoes or plans for more imports from Iran.

 

"Venezuela and Iran both want peace, and we have the right to trade freely," Maduro said in a state television address. Maduro referred to the two countries as "revolutionary peoples who will never kneel down before the North American empire."

 

The Trump administration said earlier this month it was considering "measures" to take in response to the shipments, without providing specifics.

Venezuela's refining network has been operating this year at about 10% of its 1.3 million-barrel-per-day capacity, forcing it to rely on imports. U.S. sanctions limit the sources and types of fuel it can receive.

 

Maduro said the tankers were bringing gasoline and inputs to its refineries to produce gasoline.

 

Washington has steadily hardened sanctions on PDVSA as part of its effort to oust Maduro, a socialist who has overseen a six-year economic collapse and is accused by opponents of rigging his 2018 re-election vote.

 

"This is a sad reminder of Maduro's hopeless mismanagement," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Sunday. "Venezuelans need free and fair presidential elections leading to democracy and economic recovery, not Maduro's expensive deals with another pariah state."

 

The official declined to comment on what U.S. response was under consideration, if any. Last week, a Pentagon spokesman said he was unaware of any military move planned against the vessels. But Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday warned of retaliation if Washington caused problems for the tankers.

 

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga, Deisy Buitrago, Luc Cohen and Mircely Guanipa; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-25

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

One of the world's larger producers having to import oil. Good system they have there.

Edited May 25, 20206 yr by DoctorG

Extraordinary times now. Cheaper to import than produce their own oil and they are broke like hell and can’t even pay the ships to export their oil. A new world order will surface after this pandemic. 

31 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

One of the world's larger producers having to import oil. Good system they have there.

And supplied by another country that does not have much if any capacity for refining oil. Sounds like desperation on all sides.

1 hour ago, DoctorG said:

One of the world's larger producers having to import oil. Good system they have there.

That old phrase regarding absurdity  "Hauling coal to New Castle" comes to mind. However, might be good at exposing US under Trump is a "pitiful helpless giant",  to use another old description.

1 hour ago, DoctorG said:

One of the world's larger producers having to import oil. Good system they have there.

 

A fantastic example of how socialism can create a wonderful utopia for the chosen few. Dictator Maduro, his family, relatives and cronies want for nothing and line their own pockets.

 

The masses, - er who cares. Certainly not socialists!

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

Extraordinary times now. Cheaper to import than produce their own oil and they are broke like hell and can’t even pay the ships to export their oil. A new world order will surface after this pandemic. 

 

Hopefully the Venezuelan and Iranian peoples will be liberated from the despotic ideological corrupt loonies that have caused them so much suffering.

'"This is a sad reminder of Maduro's hopeless mismanagement," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Sunday. '

Maybe your own boycott played a part in this?

 

Anybody who thinks this "Venezuelans need free and fair presidential elections leading to democracy and economic recovery" is a reason why it came to this really needs to take a look at the history.

42 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Hopefully the Venezuelan and Iranian peoples will be liberated from the despotic ideological corrupt loonies that have caused them so much suffering.

Must be a spontaneous uprising, not CIA sponsored. 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Maduro said the tankers were bringing gasoline and inputs to its refineries to produce gasoline.

I don't know anything about gasoline production. Does anyone know what these "inputs" could be?

BY what right do America have to 'criticise the move? Goodness do we need China and Russia to step-up and stop this world domination fever that has infected the US. I want a multi=polar world....not a world run by a bullying rogue pariah nation.

IT was a well functioning country with Chavez in charge. When he died the CIA decided it was time for regime change and applied sanctions.....Venezuela has done nothing wrong.....it simply has large reserves of oil that America comets and wants to steal.

On 5/25/2020 at 5:10 PM, shortstop said:

I think the problem is corruption and power consolidation not socialism per se.      

Much of Venezuela's problems are due to corruption.  But USA sanctions and interference also exacerbates Venezuela's problems.

If it wasn't the US, then it'd be someone else (China perhaps).  Corruption is a huge problem and seems to go hand-in-hand with many types of economic and political systems. Plenty of corruption in the good old Democratic (capitalistic) US of A too it seems. And Russia. And Thailand. And a whack of other countries.

China has been doing similar things in Africa for decades now as it tries to lock down sources of resources it needs. India is also known to be "sticking it's fingers" into different pies, especially as it competes with China for access to various resources around the world.

As well, the (International) sanctions against Venezuela didn't start until 2015, when Maduro was in charge. (He took over from Chavez in 2013.)
One of the things Chavez did when he was in power was change the Constitution to allow him to stay in office longer. No surprise. Erdogan in Turkey did the same thing and Putin is trying it right now in Russia as he is up against Constitutional term limits. If Chavez didn't get cancer (which he claimed was caused by the CIA of course) he'd still be in power today.

There were minor sanctions prior to 2015 but it seems they were mostly against individuals and had to do with the drug trade in Venezuela and how it connected with certain "high level" officials (which would be why it seemed to some that Venezuela wasn't doing much to fight the drug trade for some reason). Corruption again.

However, the real, state sanctions didn't start until after the <deleted> of an election in 2013.

"During the crisis in Venezuela, governments of the United States, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland applied individual sanctions against people associated with the administration of Nicolás Maduro. The sanctions were in response to repression during the 2014 Venezuelan protests and the 2017 Venezuelan protests, and activities during the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election and the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election." 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_during_the_Venezuelan_crisis#History_and_legislation

After Maduro barely won the election in 2013 (by a slim margin of barely over 200,000 votes) he started to "consolidate" that power.
"Maduro's narrow defeat of Capriles created uncertainty behind the chavista movement on whether the Bolivarian revolution could continue without Chávez. Due to the PSUV's loss of popularity, the Bolivarian government increased political polarization and began drafting laws to make mechanisms of legal repression against the opposition to maintain power. The Maduro government then prepared the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela and colectivos to participate in intimidation tactics to prevent dissent."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Venezuelan_presidential_election#Aftermath

That's when the riots and protests against him started and when he started cracking down on the people. It was after that when the places like the US and EU and others started placing sanctions on them.

5 hours ago, DoctorG said:

One of the world's larger producers having to import oil. Good system they have there.

 

4 hours ago, Proboscis said:

And supplied by another country that does not have much if any capacity for refining oil. Sounds like desperation on all sides.

 

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

'"This is a sad reminder of Maduro's hopeless mismanagement," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Sunday. '

Maybe your own boycott played a part in this?

 

Anybody who thinks this "Venezuelans need free and fair presidential elections leading to democracy and economic recovery" is a reason why it came to this really needs to take a look at the history.

 

53 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

BY what right do America have to 'criticise the move? Goodness do we need China and Russia to step-up and stop this world domination fever that has infected the US. I want a multi=polar world....not a world run by a bullying rogue pariah nation.

And all caused my a third country who believe that ONLY they have ther right to run the world in the way that they want.

 

Thank you Trump and the USA.

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

 

 

 

And all caused my by a third country who believe that ONLY they have the right to run the world in the way that they want.

 

Thank you Trump and the USA.

Amended for bad spelling, 

There are alot of very wealthy Venezuelans in Miami now. Some are buying five or ten condos in new  buildings, at millions of dollars each, for all cash. That money did not come from industrial wealth. Billions have been stolen from the Venezuelan people. And some of those "investors" are likely Maduro proxies. 

On 5/25/2020 at 3:15 AM, Baerboxer said:

Hopefully the Venezuelan and Iranian peoples will be liberated from the despotic ideological corrupt loonies that have caused them so much suffering.

 

You have to be more specific...

 

Some off topic posts and replies have been removed.