Venezuela seeks mediation with US

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. "Oil price slump weakens Venezuela's economy and government"

The oil-richest country in the world is struggling. Commodity prices are plunging, while the economy is weakening. But instead of instigating reforms, President Maduro is looking for new loans.

Ninety-six percent of Venezuela's revenues are generated by crude oil. The proceeds are used to import almost all other products. But oil prices have reached their lowest level since May 2009: one barrel of Brent crude now costs $57.33 (48 euros), while a Venezuelan barrel has fallen below the $50-level. Analysts are talking of an impending default: "The situation has not been this bad for a long time," said Nikolaus Werz, professor of political science at Rostock University.

'US is out to destroy us'

Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro mainly blames the "American empire" for the price drop. In a televised New Year's address, the president argued that the US were flooding the market with cheap shale oil, putting pressure on the commodity price: "The [oil] war has an objective: to destroy Russia. It's a strategically planned war ... also aimed at Venezuela. [The US] is seeking to turn our country into a colony, to destroy our independence and our revolution with the aid of an economic collapse."

Maduro did not mention that, thanks to state subsidies, Venezuelans only have to pay two cents per liter of gasoline. And he did not say that the country's inflation rate has risen to one of the highest worldwide because the government keeps printing more money to pay foreign debts.

http://www.dw.de/oil-price-slump-weakens-venezuelas-economy-and-government/a-18174071