The US Secretary of State decided to impose the following sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA in response to shipments of fuel to Iran, according to a US government official briefed on the matter. These are the mandatory sanctions required by the US law that imposed sanctions on Iran in an effort to get Iran to halt any possible nuclear weapons program. The sanctions imposed on PDVSA (not on Venezuela’s government, mind you) are:
– A prohibition on US government procurement contracts (just PDVSA, not subsidiaries such as Citgo)
– A ban on new export licenses (existing licenses will be respected)
– A ban on Export Import (Exim) Bank financing (not very important, as Exim Bank stopped lending to Venezuela before the PDVSA strike and lockout in 2003)
Basically, weak sanctions. But still, US sanctions on Venezuela. Expect fireworks.
UPDATE: The Associated Press version.
Setty's notebook 
Great work in summarizing this. Will spread the word.
– A prohibition on US government procurement contracts (just PDVSA, not subsidiaries such as Citgo)
Worst. Sanction. EVER!
“Worst. Sanction. EVER?”
Ranking right up there with those the US imposed against Japan prior to Pearl Harbor?
Or with those unilaterally US- imposed on Cuba half a century ago?
Pulleeeease!
It seems that poor Setty works overtime already to provoke Chavez–without having to resort to such hyper-hyperbole.
Or was your comment meant to be ironic? (Some times hard to tell.)
What is kind of amazing to me, is the mass ‘oh-hum’ acceptance of a hegemonic diktat of one country over another, when if sanctions were applied to the US or allies–it would be viewed as a declaration of war (albeit economic war).
Again and again this blatant bullying happens–and the UN does nothing about it.
Absolutely nothing.
Or did I somehow miss the trial and punishment of those responsible for the overthrow of Iran”s President Mossadegh, and subsequent installation of the Shah and his terrorists–the CIA-trained SAVAK back in the 50’s??? Did I somehow miss that part?
Or who paid the price for the US attack on Iraq when no WMDs were found and the other reasons for the war proved unfounded?
BTW,,,Haven’t ALL UN nuclear inspections and reports claimed there was no evidence for nuclear armaments in Iran–that all of their work was for energy, despite persistent US’ claims to the contrary?
All that’s missing is the Iranian version of Colin Powell and his artist’s rendering of the mobile labs he imagined the Iraqis to have…the same fictitious labs used as another excuse to attack Iraq…
Meanwhile the US has waged an illegal nuclear war against the citizens of Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans by unleashing hundreds of tons of DUMs–a weapon that is both environmentally persistent and indiscriminate in its killing.
Who’s missing what here?
I sometimes wonder what would happen if the rest of the world en masse stood up to the ‘all-powerful one’ and said ‘Basta–stuff it’?
Lastly, in terms of this being a tempest–where’s the teapot?
locoto
Please give me evidence of my “trying to provoke Chavez.”
bla, bla, bla,,,¿Por qué no suspenden recibir petroleo? jijiji….
¿Por qué no empiezas tu propio blog? Tal vez allí alguien te haría caso…
congratulations for picking the mildest possible sanctions back in February!
Indeed nice pick of the sanctions. Will this affect bonds much? At all?
On bonds, here’s the afternoon note from Russ Dallen at BBO Financial Services: “The announcement of US Government sanctions on PDVSA pushed prices down almost 2 points before they rebounded to close only about 3/4 point lower with CDS widening by about the same. While a reading of the actual sanctions makes it look as though this is all bark and no bite — the Obama Administration clearly does not want to push up oil prices — the ball has now been hit into the Chavez court. Although he needs the US market as one of his largest and few paying customers (Cuba and the rest of the PetroCaribe group get the oil at half-price with 20 year financing at 1%) especially leading up to his election, given his proclivity for loquaciousness, it will be difficult for Chavez to ignore the subject. And that is where the other shoe could drop in this tempest. –Russ”