Thread by @venanalysis

Sanctions coming home to roost? Not likely, but an important trial might be unfolding in a US court. Without overestimating the amount of “justice” that US courts actually deliver, the case may expose just how far-reaching US sanctions are (thread)
reuters.com/legal/transact…

In a nutshell, this is the story: Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA issued a promissory note pledging to pay Dresser-Rand (Houston-based Siemens subsidiary, oilfield equipment provider) some $120M. It paid the first 2 installments and then couldn’t go on because of US sanctions

In 2020 a judge ruled in favor of Dresser-Rand and ordered PDVSA to pay some $150M (120 + interest). Only the Venezuelan company actually tried to continue making payments and was blocked as a result of sanctions, and thus claims it is no longer liable for the debt

Dresser-Rand claims there were payment alternatives but is allegedly refusing to hand over communications with the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control which (according to PDVSA) would show that fulfilling obligations was indeed impossible

So we’ll be paying attention to this trial and ruling, since it may demonstrate the huge (criminal) scope of US sanctions, beyond what corporate outlets repeatedly and dishonestly portray as measures only affecting high-ranking officials and unrelated to Vzla's economic crisis

Speaking of dishonesty, no one does it better than Reuters. Here it says sanctions were meant to "press Maduro to restore democracy". Because these stenographers just take the State Dept's word that democracy needs "restoring". "Democracy" stands for "subservience" to empire

Then we read about sanctions' "far-reaching unintended consequences". Unintended? Really? When US officials are on the record saying they want to strangle the Venezuelan economy by stopping any and all companies from dealing with the govt or state companies?

Finally Reuters says companies decline to engage in US-approved transactions (gotta ask permission from the almighty empire!) out of an "abundance of caution". Given that there have been secondary sanctions and threats to all kinds of companies, that "caution" is the purpose

To get a grasp on the US-blockade against Venezuela, check out this neat infographic:
venezuelanalysis.com/images/15295
And this one on the raft of measures against the oil industry:
venezuelanalysis.com/images/15301
#SanctionsKill

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