Selling Crude to Los Imperialistas
Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro blames Washington for all his problems. But that doesn't mean he can turn off the oil tap any time soon.
BY MARCH 24, 2015
RACAS — Every other day a broad-hulled supertanker docks at the Venezuelan state oil company’s deep-water sea terminal at José in the state of Anzoategui. The ship loads up on crude oil en route to an unlikely destination: the South American country’s No. 1 enemy, the United States of America.
Washington and Caracas have been engaging in tit-for-tat insults and sanctions over recent weeks, with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accusing U.S. President Barack Obama of plotting to overthrow his government. But behind the fiery rhetoric is a more complex reality: The United States and Venezuela have a commercial relationship that Maduro cannot afford to sever.
