Oil Above All: Paraguay Joins New ‘Friends of Venezuela’ Club Despite Multi-Million Dollar Debt and Refusal to Recognize Maduro

The President of the Senate of Paraguay, Óscar Salomón, informed the press that next Tuesday, May 3, a delegation of Venezuelan National Assembly deputies will discuss with their Paraguayan colleagues the possibility of resuming the purchase of Venezuelan fuel by Paraguay.

The meeting will take place between a team of Paraguayan senators and four Venezuelan deputies who are currently in Paraguay, discussing the reinstatement of Venezuela in the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur).

“Paraguay today needs cheaper fuel and Venezuela can give us that possibility to buy,” said Senator Salomón.

He added that the Paraguayan Senate will listen to the proposals of the Venezuelan parliamentarians, in addition to discussing the “impasse between Paraguay and Venezuela.”

Despite the interest that Paraguay is now showing in resuming oil trade with Venezuela, the situation goes much beyond, since Asunción has an unpaid debt of some $300 million since 2009. This money that Paraguay owes Venezuela has been aggravated by the government’s recognition of “interim president” Juan Guaidó and participation in the failed US-led regime change operation in Venezuela.

The multimillion dollar debt dates back to the period when the state-owned Petróleos Paraguayos (PETROPAR) acquired fuel from the Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Venezuela puede "ayudarnos a conseguir combustible más barato", dice el presidente del Senado de Paraguay, Salomón, ante la visita de parlamentarios venezolanos la próxima semana, con quienes se reunirá. “Hasta EEUU está cambiando de postura", afirmó para defender su posición.
— Marco Teruggi (@Marco_Teruggi) April 29, 2022

At that time, both countries agreed to follow the guidelines of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). However, the entire process was suspended in 2019 when Paraguay decided to break relations with Venezuela, refusing to recognize President Nicolás Maduro.

In this regard, the president of the Paraguayan Senate stated that there may be a change of position on Venezuela, “if it is convenient for the country.” He acknowledged that even the United States “is changing its position.”

Since the US wanted to resume talks with the Venezuelan government, given that it needs to alleviate its energy crisis stemming from high costs of gasoline, other countries in the region are also retreating from their former position of recognizing the fake presidency of Guaidó and want to resume their relations with Venezuela.

Such is the case of Brazil, the government of which has stated that it seems to be a good time to resume diplomatic relations with Venezuela. Argentina and Panama expressed the same interest in recent weeks.

“At a time when the US is analyzing an exception to the blockade on Venezuelan oil exports, it really seems to me that we can think about reevaluating this issue of the diplomatic relationship,” Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Francia said recently.

Featured image: PETROPAR fuel tanks. Photo: Runrun.

(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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