Signal from Caracas

On February 14, the Russian Embassy in Venezuela protested against the decision of the National Assembly (Parliament) of the country to challenge the deal between Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and the Russian Rosneft

The Venezuelan Parliament blocked the deal on February 9. According to the contract, signed exactly a year ago, Rosneft was going to invest $500 million in projects in the oil belt of the Orinoco River, thereby increasing its stake in the Petromonogas JV from 23.33% to 40%. Deputies of the National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition, were outraged not by the deal itself, but by the way it was concluded. After all, according to the law, the treaty was supposed to be approved by Parliament, but this was not done. In addition, the parliamentarians considered the amount proposed by Rosneft insufficient, and the sale of shares itself was called "treason."

The largest Russian company from year to year increased its investments in the Venezuelan oil industry. This course, despite the acute economic crisis that Venezuela is experiencing, was confirmed during a visit to Caracas in January by the first vice-president of Rosneft, Eric Liron. The head of the company, Igor Sechin, has never concealed the political background of economic plans in this country. In the past, a great friend of the late Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, he was proud of the informal status of "Russian ambassador" in Latin America.

However, another “surprise” was waiting for Russia in Venezuela now. On February 13, the US Treasury blacklisted the country's first vice president, Tarek El Aissami, accusing him of participating in a large-scale drug trade. All property of El Aissami and his accomplices in the United States was confiscated.

NT has already reported that in early 2017 President Nicolás Maduro appointed 42-year-old El Aissami as his first vice president. This means that in the event of the removal of an unpopular leader (80% of Venezuelans oppose Maduro), the first “vice” will take his place according to the constitution. At home, Tareq El Aissami, a Syrian-Lebanese former interior minister and governor, has a reputation for being a hardline chavista politician who has not hesitated in the past to forcefully disperse anti-government protesters. The Maduro government decided that he would be the ideal successor.

As the US Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald writes, "El Aissami represents a dual threat to US national security, he personifies the union of two evils - drug trafficking and terrorism." America is extremely concerned about reports that Tarek el-Aissami has close ties to Hezbollah and Iran. According to American and European experts, for many years he financed (the personal capital of the first vice president is about $ 3 billion) a terrorist network in Latin America, designed to help fundamentalist movements in the Middle East.

Now that US President Donald Trump has declared the fight against terrorism his priority, too close ties between Moscow and Caracas will in no way contribute to mutual understanding between Russia and America in this area. The strategy of the Russian authorities and the captains of its oil industry to strengthen relations with the authoritarian regime of Venezuela does not stand the test of the economic crisis, and in the near future will also suffer political failure.