Venezuela cornered

THE US oil embargo on Venezuela that began yesterday will deepen the country’s economic crisis without necessarily forcing President Nicolas Maduro from power.

Until now, US sanctions directly targeted Maduro’s regime in the hope of weakening his grip on power in favour of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who in January declared himself acting president.

But these new sanctions will bite hard in a country that has suffered five years of recession.

Venezuela is almost entirely reliant on oil revenue, with 96 per cent of its income from crude. Caracas is exporting 500,000 barrels a day to US companies, which accounted for three-quarters of its liquidity by the end of 2018.

The new sanctions not only ban US companies from buying Venezuelan crude but also all foreign entities from using the US banking system to purchase the black gold from Caracas.

It means China and Russia may have to be Venezuela’s “lifesavers,” said specialist Luis Oliveros.