{"id":3692,"date":"2019-04-01T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vricmonitor.org\/april-2019\/"},"modified":"2024-08-21T18:36:34","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T18:36:34","slug":"april-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vric.securefreesociety.org\/es\/april-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"APRIL 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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As international pressure mounts against the Maduro regime in Venezuela, its extra-regional allies Russia, Iran, and China continue\u00a0offering various forms of aid: Russia is providing\u00a0military support, China is protecting critical infrastructure, and Iran is voicing\u00a0support for the Maduro regime through state-run media. In March, Russia and China have supplied Venezuela with military technicians\u00a0and more humanitarian aid. With additional U.S. sanctions on Venezuela\u2019s state mining agency, Minerven, and its chief executive, the Maduro regime is increasingly relying on VRIC support to find alternative\u00a0sources of revenue and financial channels to evade sanctions.<\/p>

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As Venezuela continues to dominate headlines worldwide, the VRIC nations are operating throughout the region. Russia and China prompt a nuclear energy race in Latin America, with China engaging in nuclear talks with Argentina and Russia collaborating on Bolivia\u2019s nuclear program. Whereas, Brazil starts to edge out China to work closer with the U.S. on the heels of a historic visit to Washington, D.C. on March 17-19 by President Jair Bolsonaro.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Venezuela\u00a0experienced two blackouts last\u00a0month, exacerbating the worsening humanitarian crisis within the country and devastating an already failed economy. Maduro\u00a0accused the U.S. of launching cyber attacks that caused the blackouts, with China echoing this narrative, further positioning Venezuela as a proxy conflict between the U.S. and the VRIC nations.<\/p>

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The U.S. issued additional sanctions in early April and Citigroup sold of over $1 billion of Venezuela\u2019s gold, adding to the economic pressure toward a transition to free and fair elections in the country. U.S. officials continue to sanction and highlight criminality within the Maduro regime.The Department of Treasury sanctioned the Venezuela state mining agency, further strangling the revenue sources of the Maduro regime.<\/p>

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On March 8, the Department of Justice charged the Venezuelan Minister of Industry and National Production Tareck El Aissami with violations to his 2017 sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act along with several other senior Venezuelan officials.<\/p>

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Within the ALBA bloc, Bolivia is solidifying its extra-regional alliances; Nicaragua is negotiating with the opposition; and India is potentially rising as a strategic ally. Bolivian President Evo Morales visited Greece in March, promoting a solution to the Venezuela\u00a0crisis\u00a0with Greece\u2019s support. Bolivia continues\u00a0to engage in nuclear talks with Russia. However, a Petrobras fine on Bolivia\u2019s state oil company for failing to deliver LNG shows that Bolivia\u2019s energy production may not be as successful as their state reporting implies.<\/p>

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The creation of PROSUR to replace UNASUR has affected the ALBA, with its Secretary General David Choquehuanca denouncing\u00a0the action, claiming that the new organization puts regional integration at risk. Lastly, India is increasingly active in the region.\u00a0India\u2019s\u00a0increased engagement with Bolivia,\u00a0signing 8 MOUs including culture, space, and medicine, as well as a contract to begin mining lithium in the Uyuni flats, marks India as a potential rising VRIC ally.<\/p>

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VENEZUELA AID TRACKER<\/strong><\/p>
\u00a0United States<\/a><\/strong><\/td>$76 million dollars<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Argentina<\/a><\/strong><\/td>Help unit<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Canada<\/a><\/strong><\/td>$39 million dollars<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Chile<\/a><\/strong><\/td>17 tons of food & medical supplies<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0China<\/a><\/strong><\/td>65 tons of medicine & supplies<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0EU<\/a><\/strong><\/td>$65 million euros<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Germany<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\u20ac5 million euros<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Iran<\/a><\/strong><\/td>Unspecified pledge & medical aid<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Italy<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\u20ac2 million euros<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0New Zealand<\/a><\/strong><\/td>$500,000 dollars<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Palestine<\/a><\/strong><\/td>Surgical team<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Russia<\/a><\/strong><\/td>335 tons of food & medical supplies<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Spain<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\u20ac2 million euros<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Sweden<\/a><\/strong><\/td>$7 million dollars<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Taiwan<\/a><\/strong><\/td>$500,000 dollars<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0Turkey<\/strong><\/td>Pledged, but none specified<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0UAE<\/a><\/strong><\/td>Dh10 million<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0UK<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\u00a0\u00a36.5 million pounds<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>