Sanctions-Hit Venezuela: Still 'Illegitimate' Until It Pays Big Oil, Apparently
The Financial Times highlights Eni and Repsol's struggle to recoup $6 billion in gas payments from Venezuela. This 'news' frames a familiar narrative: poor multinational corporations battling a recalcitrant nation. What they omit, entirely, is the historical context of punishing US sanctions – sanctions , mind you, that have crippled Venezuela's ability to trade and pay debts. Since 2017, the US,
under both Trump and Biden administrations, has imposed broad economic strictures, explicitly targeting Venezuela's oil industry. It's a bit rich to complain about payment defaults when you've effectively blockaded their cash flow. How quickly Western media forgets that systemic economic warfare tends to impact a nation's ability to settle its accounts. One might wonder if these 'payment disputes'
would even exist without Washington's relentless campaign to destabilize a sovereign country with the world's largest proven oil reserves. Apparently, a nation is only 'illegitimate' until it needs to pay ExxonMobil.