Since President Trump announced the US intention to impose regime change in Venezuela, sanctions against the country have grown precipitously. Direct sanctions, and banking sanctions, have severely limited trade.
If one nation can sympathize, it’s Iran. US hostility toward Iran since the revolution has put them in an almost identical position for a generation. Being in the same boat, the two nations have tried to improve ties, and increase direct trade.
Since the US sees Iran and Venezuela as up to no good, they see direct trade between the two as even more trouble, and have been threatening to move against the two nations to stop commerce going forward.
Venezuela’s Vice-Minister Carlos Ron slammed US interference, saying they have no right to intervene in bilateral relations of two sovereign states, and are violating free trade and WTO dispositions.
Washington wants to control Venezuela’s oil reserves. With Venezuela Iraq and the USA reserves Washington would have 25% of the worlds Oil and could easily weaponize that control.
Vbase.Venezuelas rare eart minrrals are far more valuable than its oil reserves.
Actually the US wants to control the world, not just Venezuela’s oil reserves. But those days are over.
Two broke countries bartering in gold…. only a matter of time before they start bickering over settlement, as gold rises to just shy of US$1800/ troy oz.
They may not be able to use U.S. dollars officially, but they will be basing the value of trade in U.S. dollars.
The UK just stole Venezuela’s gold.
Yeah, but Maduro set loose hundreds of wildcat miners into the Venezuelan bush to dig up more. So London has only [Venezuela’s legacy gold], but legally they can’t spend [or access] it, as its held in ‘trust’ for Venezuela.
Venezuela is a treasure house of natural resources, as is Iran. They could deal in gold for years. Furthermore, they aren’t just trading gold for goods, but accepting gold for such goods and services as they have to sell.
All of this gold, is not recorded in London or any other Western banking centre, though the CIA or NSA probably have an idea of the general scale.
For national governments at least, dealing in gold is a doable alternative to pure fiat cash, given the scale of national-level transactions. [Again, though, any trade is going to be practically settled according to U.S. dollars translated into gold.]
Article mentions only two nations but there are two more involved, China and Russia, and in those two others it is not just gold but what are termed “Rare eart minerals and precious metals, of which Venezuela has vast amounts, as a medium of exchange.
Crude oil is being shipped, some through Panama Canal on Russian and Chinese ships which is more like barter for modernizing, rebuilding and expansion of refineries and mining while China is also aiding in building highways into new areas.
Russia, China and Iran already have limited agreements on exchanging goods payable in own currencies and if those three nations can get Venezuelas economy, that is already trying to ditch petro dollar, stabilized before US nbegins a shooting war there, what is to stop currency treaty to include Venezuela.
with US and Britian having broken the Gold Repository laws, now known Trump using confiscated Venezuelan gpld to build wall, and Britians uncertain Brexit economy, what nations will trust storing gold in either nation under old Sovereign systems and for that matter petro dollar values as exchange base.
Just about everything Trump does has the opposite effect of what he intended.
He’s cooking up a new batch of sanctions for all four of those corrupt regimes. they’ll be lucky to get used tea bags if they continue this illegal activity. maduro is getting too bold for his britches. the regime change had been put on hold but there are murmurings of rekindling it.
… Well that assumes Trump has clear intentions… a lot of people kind of wonder about that.