What Happened: The Jamaican government has rejected a request from the Venezuelan opposition government to halt Jamaica's takeover of a stake in a Jamaican-based refinery currently controlled by Venezuelan state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Argus Media reported June 18.
Why It Matters: The decision reveals the limits of the Venezuelan opposition government, led by self-appointed interim president Juan Guaido, to protect Venezuelan assets such as PDVSA from seizure by creditors or other governments.
Background: Jamaica's move to assume PDVSA's stake in the refinery is in part due to increasing U.S. sanctions on Venezuela during the latter's economic and political crisis. Kingston doesn’t want to be exposed to U.S. sanctions for continuing to conduct transactions with PDVSA. Currently, PDVSA faces risks from across the world as creditors, arbitration claimants and other governments move to seize its assets, mainly to collect on unpaid debts.
Read More:
- Venezuela: A Rapid Decline in Oil Production Raises the Risk of More Chaos (May 15, 2019)
- Will the Uprising in Venezuela Affect the Country's Oil Production? (April 30, 2019)
- Venezuela's Unraveling
