Maduro: Extreme Circumstances Could Cause Supply Cut to U.S.

Without specifying the measures that the Venezuelan government will adopt in response to U.S. sanctions against PDVSA [Venezuela Petroleum, Inc.] in order to maintain business connections with Iran, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said that the possibility of cutting the supply of crude oil to the U.S. would be considered in “extreme circumstances.”

Maduro indicated that PDVSA has the capability to interact with the world without being technologically dependent on the U.S. oil industry. “Today we have our own engines with the capacity to act independently,” he said.

Venezuela sends more than 1.2 million barrels per day to the U.S. However, Maduro indicated that Venezuelan oil has a secure market anywhere in the world.

He stressed that Venezuela is still evaluating Venezuelan oil supplies to the U.S. market. “In any case, what I can say is that our industry has the ability to confront and overcome this sanction attempt; with these sanctions, they are trying to hit us economically,” he indicated.

Maduro demanded respect from the U.S. government for building a multi-polar world. He stressed that the U.S. measures show a world that cannot continue to function this way. “They want to determine who sells and who buys,” he told VTV [Venezuelan Television].

In the case of Iran, he said that the U.S. seeks to economically isolate that country, in order to subject it to harm. Nuclear energy is an alternative. “No one can say which country is able or unable to have it and then start sanctioning the world.”

He said that recent displays of solidarity to protest U.S. sanctions show the values of those who really “love” the country and do not hesitate to defend its interests. He regretted that there is no clear stance on this issue by the opposition.

Maduro said that there has been growing international support for Venezuela, including from the eight countries of ALBA [Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas] and the 18 countries of Petrocaribe [Caribbean oil alliance]. According to Maduro, American intellectual artists have contacted the government to express their solidarity.

A concentration of oil workers in Caracas will support PDVSA and reject U.S. sanctions against state-run oil on Saturday.