PRESS: Patrushev: US acts in Venezuela to lay hands on cheap oil

MOSCOW, Mar 25 (PRIME) – Washington has become active in Venezuela because it wants to lay its hands on cheap Venezuelan oil, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Patrushev told newspaper Izvestiya in an interview released on Monday.

“The U.S. activities in Venezuela are one of the manifestations of U.S. policies to promote economic interests with the use of unfair competition methods. The strategic U.S. goal is to attain the position of a leader in global oil exports, of the one who sets its rules and dictates its will to OPEC within several years,” Patrushev said.

“Russia and Iran are under sanctions limiting their possibility to sell oil, while it’s only left to snatch the Venezuelan oil since the refineries in the South of the U.S. are meant to use this cheap raw material. The U.S. goal is evident, it is to use cheap Venezuelan oil on its refineries and export costly shale oil, including to Europe.”

Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, declared himself president of the country as long as the interim government is in power. The U.S. and many other states have acknowledged Guaido, while Russia, China, and some other states supported Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Washington slapped sanctions on Venezuelan oil company PDVSA on January 28, blocking U.S. $7 billion worth of its assets in the U.S. jurisdiction, and prohibiting all deals with the company.

Patrushev also said that the Western sanctions against Russia are ineffective and frequently backfire.

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