The sale of CITGO amounts to treason to Venezuela
By Aleksander Boyd
London 02.02.05 | The more I think about the possible reasons that Hugo Chavez may have to sell CITGO the more obvious his treasonous stance becomes. Chavez is determined to kick the Gringos out of Venezuela for good, however, his galloping animosity towards the USA notwithstanding, he can not do it immediately. The actions against Hess, Harvest Natural and Conoco-Phillips are but three examples of what's in store for American companies operating in or with Venezuela. CITGO, from Chavez' [Mommer] perspective, is the weak link; a liability he can not afford to loose entirely. So he sets out to declare that indeed he will commence with the sale of those 'unproductive' assets.
Should Chavez were to order today the immediate stoppage of all strategic alliances of PDVSA with American companies, which represent 1 MBD of the total output of PDVSA, the oil income that Venezuela receives would be nearly halved. He can't afford that. Instead new alliances are been rapidly formed with Russia, Iran and China, the goal being to replace the existing and already productive partnerships with American companies with Russian, Iranian and Chinese ones. Ergo Chavez' actions are not casual but timed and on schedule for it has been reported that "Venezuela's state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela is preparing to sell its Citgo refining operations in the United States within two years, an oil ministry official said Tuesday" [underline added]. Once this is achieved is bye-bye Gringos forever.
In order to hedge himself against potential confiscation of international assets owned by PDVSA due to his illegal domestic policies [breach of contracts], Chavez [Mommer] has come up with the brilliant idea of selling CITGO [while still standing in 'good stead' with the USA], a jewel that very many oil players would love to have in America's heartland. Undoubtedly this is tantamount to treason to the fatherland, the intentional crippling of Venezuela's oil industry that is, and Chavez, as the supreme master that he is, has to be made accountable for the losses.
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