Originally
published July 1 in Correo del Orinoco International.
The
U.S. government has been increasing aggressive actions against the
Chavez administration in an attempt to isolate the major petroleum
producing nation and aid in ousting the Venezuelan President.
During
a hearing last Friday, June 24, in the Foreign Relations Committee of
the House of Representatives regarding “Sanctionable Activities in
Venezuela”, democrats and republicans requested the Obama
administration take more aggressive actions against the government of
Hugo Chavez. The head of the Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs for the
Western Hemisphere, Connie Mack, a Florida Republican, branded the
Venezuelan government “terrorist”, saying “it’s time to act
to contain the dangerous influence of Hugo Chavez and his relations
with Iran”.
Mack
is known for his rabid anti-Chavez stance. But however “obsessed”
he may seem with the Venezuelan President, the republican congressman
does have influence in the legislature due to his high ranking in the
Foreign Relations Committee. His efforts, along with those of the
head of the Foreign Relations Committee, Florida republican Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, convinced the White House to impose sanctions against
Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA last May
24. Mack has said that his only objective this year is “get Hugo
Chavez”.
Last
Friday’s hearing, devoted entirely to Venezuela, was attended by
senior officials of the State Department, the Treasury Department and
the Office of Foreign Assets Control. In testimony before the
Committee, the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Latin America,
Kevin Whitaker, revealed the Obama administration is “seriously
considering” labeling Venezuela a “terrorist state”. “No
option is off the table and the Department will continue to study any
further action as may be necessary in the future”, said Whitaker.
The
unilateral sanctions imposed on PDVSA came under the U.S. Iran
Sanctions Act, and include the prohibition of entering into contracts
with the U.S. government, loans from the US Import-Export Bank and
certain technological licenses and patents. Nonetheless, this hostile
action towards Venezuela did not have any real economic impact
against the South American country because it no longer has
agreements with the US government or loans from US banks.
Furthermore, the sanctions did not affect the important oil supply
from Venezuela to the U.S. or the operations of PDVSA’s subsidiary
in U.S. territory, CITGO.
However,
the sanctions had an impact on diplomatic relations between Caracas
and Washington, which were already in a period of deterioration.
After the latter’s aggressive actions, the Venezuelan government
declared relations with the United States “frozen”.
Dangerous
to do business with PDVSA
According
to the State Department, sanctions against PDVSA, while not impacting
the country economically, “give a message to the world that it is
dangerous to do business with Venezuela and PDVSA”, indicating that
in the near future, Washington could act against those who enter into
contracts or agreements with Venezuelan companies.
Sanctions
against CONVIASA
The
lawmakers also demanded the State Department impose sanctions against
the Venezuelan airline CONVIASA because of what they consider
“support for terrorism”, based on flights between Caracas, Syria
and Iran. Without a shred of evidence, the congressmembers claimed
the flight, which is no longer operating, was “carrying radioactive
material, weapons, drugs and known terrorists of Hezbollah and Iran”.
To
support this dangerous “accusation”, they cited a German
newspaper, Die Welt, which had falsely published days
before that Venezuela and Iran were building a missile base in
western Venezuelan to “attack the United States”. In response to
this misinformation, President Hugo Chavez showed footage of a
windmill farm in same the location where “sources” had indicated
the fictional Iranian military base was located.
More
sanctions
Congress
also implored the State Department to consider applying more
sanctions against Venezuela, including “a ban on U..S imports”
and “transactions in dollars”. Representatives of the White House
said that although they are considering further action against the
government of Hugo Chavez, which they consider to be “an
adversarial government”, they must take into account the
significant supply of Venezuelan oil, which comprises 15 percent of
U.S. imports. Just days ago, President Barack Obama authorized oil
exploitation in an environmentally protected area in Alaska,
indicating that Washington is seeking to secure its energy needs
before breaking the relationship with Venezuela.
Sanctions
to date
In
addition to the sanctions imposed against PDVSA in May, Washington
already has taken aggressive actions against the Venezuelan
government. In June 2006, the U.S. classified Venezuela as a country
that “does not cooperate sufficiently with the fight against
terrorism” and imposed sanctions prohibiting U.S. arms sales to
Venezuela or those from any company in the world using US technology.
Since
2005, Washington also has classified Venezuela as a country that does
not “cooperate in the fight against drug trafficking,” which
should carry a financial penalty against the South American country.
Yet, Washington clarified that since Venezuela has no loans in the
U.S., the only support that could be cut would be those millions of
dollars given annually to opposition groups who work to undermine the
Chavez government. In order to avoid reducing those funds, the US
included an exception to this penalty, stating it “would not affect
U.S. economic support to “pro-democracy civil society
organizations”, thus ensuring continued support for the
destabilization of Venezuela.
In
2007, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned three senior Venezuelan
officials, accusing them of ties to terrorism and drug trafficking,
though the allegations were unsubstantiated. The officials included
the Director of Military Intelligence, General Hugo Carvajal, ex
Director of Bolivarian Intelligence (SEBIN), General Henry Rangel and
ex Minister of Interior and Justice, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin.
The
following year, the Treasury Department designated two Venezuelans of
Syrian origin, Fawzi Kan’an and Ghazi Nasr al Din, as providing
material support for terrorism based on alleged links to Hezbollah,
considered a terrorist group by the United States.
All
indications are that Washington will continue to increase aggression
against Venezuela with future sanctions and attempts to demonize,
isolate and discredit the Chavez administration.
