Venezuela’s oil industry, already in weakened condition, has been so wrecked by continually-escalating U.S. sanctions, economic blockade and organized sabotage which began under Obama and escalated under the Trump Administration, that the oil industry has ground to a near halt. On Sept. 10, the government announced drastic rationing of gasoline was required. Details have not been fully spelled out, but one official told citizens on Sept. 14 that gasoline will only be provided for doctors and police when they are on duty, and for powering cisterns and activities related to food (and while not said, undoubtedly for the military, also).
On the Venezuelan island of Margarita and in the parts of the interior, most people have been unable to buy any gasoline since the end of July. That situation has now moved into the big metropolitan centers, including the capital, Caracas. The head of the Oil and Gas Workers Union in the state of Falcon, Ivan Freites, warned on Sept. 11 that refinery production is very unstable, and because of the sanctions imports are ruled out. This crisis would have happened sooner, except for four shipments of gasoline from Iran and oil industry inputs that got through earlier this year—before Mike Pompeo was able to mobilize the seizure of any further shipments. President Nicolas Maduro also reported on Sept. 11 that a U.S. Marine who had worked for the CIA in Iraq had been arrested carrying heavy weaponry and money, and scoping out two state oil refineries along the Venezuelan coast.
The government charged that the blockade against Venezuela which “has brought serious damage to our entire energy industry,” constitutes a “flagrant and pernicious violation of the human rights of an entire people, which contravenes the entire legal order of the international community, especially the United Nations Charter.”
The government referenced the following chilling statement made on Oct. 12, 2018 to Voice of America by former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield, who told a reporter: “If we are going to sanction [state oil company] PDVSA, it will have an impact on the entire people,” who are already suffering from the lack of food and medicines. Without hesitation, he went on: “Perhaps the best resolution would be to accelerate the collapse, even if it produces a period of greater suffering for a period of months or perhaps years.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJBoe3AvSvc
