[Thread] The "interim president" and the corporations
Self-proclaimed @jguaido, this worthless US puppet, has found himself in some hot water over the handling of Venezuelan assets that fell in his lap. We'll have a detailed report soon, but in the meantime here's the gist of it
This week, a document from a Delaware court said that the Guaidó "administration" had reached an agreement to pay oil giant ConocoPhillips $1.3 billion. The fact that this was not disclosed nor approved by his (make-believe, expired) parliament drew criticism on social media
The background is that ConocoPhillips was awarded $2B by an intl arbitration court, the Vzlan govt reached a settlement but couldn't deliver because of sanctions, so CP moved to seize Citgo shares (US-based oil subsidiary). And it's not the only one after Citgo (more below)
The natural Q is "how did Guaidó intend to pay this $1.3B"? One obvious guess is... Citgo shares. But worry not! It was all a misunderstanding. The self-proclaimed one and his team of top minds put out a statement saying this whole thing in the document is there "by mistake"
Let's play a game of "which is worse?"
- Guaidó & co. pledged to pay $1.3B, then lied about it
- Guaidó & co (whose lawyers had this info weeks before publication) failed to see a $1.3B pledge they didn't make
Credit to @frrodriguezc for his explanations and asking the right Qs
Let those who never unknowingly pledged to pay $1.3 billion dollars cast the first stone. Anyway, this court document has to do with Crystallex's similar bid to get its greedy corporate hands on Citgo shares. The mining giant also won a $1.4 billion intl arbitration award
Crystallex sent a letter to the US Treasury asking to seize Vzlan assets. US authorities denied the request yet pledged to revisit the stance in 2022. They say that's when Guaidó's Natl Assembly's term "expires". It really expired in Jan 2021 but US puppets just make up new rules
The ban on dealings w/ the defaulted PDVSA 2020 bond (it has Citgo as collateral) also expires in Jan 2022, so could the clock be ticking on Citgo? Between the pro-corporate "justice" handed by intl arbitration courts and the opposition's buffoonish antics, it doesn't look good
However, this is not all. The Guaidó camp recently and "quietly" dropped its opposition to the enforcement of yet another international arbitration award, this time $1.2 billion to fellow Canadian corporation Rusoro Mining. Another one lining up to seize Citgo?
To this we should add the recent scandal involving Monómeros (Vzlan agrochemical company in Colombia) which was seized by the Colombian government and Guaidó "thanked" them for it. After all, Duque outranks him in the puppet hierarchy
Whatever the case may be, opposition knives are out. The leadership of the (expired) opp-controlled Natl Assembly penned a letter to Colombia opposing the Monómeros move. But Guaidó and another idiot refused to sign. What was that bit about unity?
For the past 2 and a half years, the spectacular failure of the coup attempt has forced the US into the unusual position of opposing corporate efforts to seize Vzlan assets. Simply put, these offer the Guaidó band credibility and a huge piggy bank. But is that about to change?
Even Washington has put an expiration date on this circus known as the "interim govt." Reading the tea leaves, it's not far fetched to expect an effort from corporations, coordinating w/ the US, to plunder these assets as soon as possible so they don't return to the Vzlan state
As for Guaidó, because of this really indescribable decision to consider an Olympic-level moron as Venezuela's "legitimate leader," he's the one who can sign off on all these dealings. Shall we take bets on him ending up as a board member at ConocoPhillips or Crystallex?
Neocolonial plundered. Following the January 3 strikes and kidnapping of President Maduro, the Trump administration has moved in to impose control over Venezuelan resources, w/ Western conglomerates moving in under favorable conditions. Follow our thread/infographic
In recent weeks, the Venezuelan govt + National Assembly have fast-tracked reforms to attract foreign investment.Pro-business overhauls to hydrocarbon and mining laws slashed fiscal responsibilities, expanded concessions and removed the leading state role established under Chávez
Private corporations can now take over operations and sales, even if they are minority partners in joint ventures. The reforms, which followed years of devastating US economic sanctions, also established the possibility of taking disputes to international arbitration
Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez gave a televised address earlier with some significant announcements on upcoming reforms. We'll have a report soon, and follow-up content once those reforms are in motion, but here's the gist of it (thread)
The most important announcement was an upcoming reform to the country's Labor Law. Approved in 2012, this is an absolute pillar of Chávez's legacy. But the private sector has upped complaints that present labor rights are too onerous and more flexibility is in order
As an aside, the Venezuelan gov't in recent years, under sanctions, has prioritized non-wage bonuses and kept wages frozen and devalued to almost nothing. In her speech, Rodríguez criticized past wage increases that were "irresponsible" and caused inflation. She announced an increase for May Day but it's likely to be bonuses, not salaries
The Venezuelan National Assembly approved a reform to the country’s Hydrocarbon Law in its first discussion. A second discussion and final vote are expected soon. This is arguably the country’s most important piece of legislation, so let’s look at what’s at stake 🧵🧵🧵
Some background: Venezuela’s present energy legislation was established under the Hugo Chávez govts. It was first approved in 2001 and later had some amendments. In essence, it reaffirmed the state’s sovereignty over natural resources and established control over the oil industry
Chávez’s reforms mandate that state oil company PDVSA hold majority stakes (in some cases at least 60%) and run oilfield operations. Taxes on oil profits were set 50%, royalties were raised (in some cases from 1%) to 30% across the board
The bar is always high (or low, rather), but every now and then the New York Times delivers an all-time masterpiece of journalistic dishonesty and pliant service to US imperialism. This is a piece about (imaginary ties) between Hezbollah and Venezuela: 🧵 archive.is/FPrMQ
First off, the US kidnapped/abducted Maduro. But US exceptionalism runs so deep that corporate stenographers believe Washington can just "seize" foreign leaders. But the relevant part here is that all we have here are claims by Rubio and US officials
This section is just empty fluff meant to malign Iran and Venezuela. Notice the nonsense of saying the countries are "bound by anti-American ideology" like it's some kind of bad taste in music, as opposed to the result of decades of imperialist attacks
A controversial afternoon (on Twitter) after the orangeman-in-chief lashed out at Colombia after the Petro government refused to accept repatriation flights with shackled migrants in military airplanes. Trump threatened tariffs and sanctions, Petro replied defiantly
Trump's disgusting (even by his standards) xenophobic and imperialist antics barely a week into his term have drawn fierce rebukes across the hemisphere. Honduran President Xiomara Castro called for an extraordinary summit in a few days
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also voice his support, telling his Colombian counterpart he can count on the "strength and experience" of the Venezuelan people and calling for further regional unity
🧵When it comes to reporting about Venezuela, there is no corporate outlet even remotely close to the level of dishonesty of the New York Times. Seriously, it's one piece of misrepresented bullsh*t after another. Follow this thread as we break it down
This is the piece:
The article is not to be taken seriously b/c it starts from a blatant lie. US "prodding" has nothing to do with Venezuela holding elections. It is dictated by the Constitution that they be held this year and they were never in doubt shorturl.at/LFusR
Anyone not high on Western exceptionalism would actually be ashamed of their government meddling in other countries' affairs. But alas, this is the NYT.
In corporate media spiel, "restoring democracy" just means a US puppet being back in the presidential palace