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The UN headquarters is still in New York, anyone they don't like can just be killed or abducted
(lemmy.ml)
And yeah, the collective punishment through sanctions is worse than abducting a president, ok
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She proposed this as soon as the 15th, discussed it in the assembly on the 22nd, launched a public discussion on the 26-27th, then there's a second discussion in the assembly on the 27-28th, ending up with a unanimous approval on the 29th.
If you want to get angry at the victim(, i wouldn't blame you, but we're not in a movie when the righteous always win in the end) : https://x.com/i/status/2018258914916065436
If you want a more detailed analysis : https://www.rafaelramirez.net/articulos/derogada-la-nacionalizacion-y-soberania-petrolera-analisis-sobre-la-aprobacion-de-la-reforma-a-la-loh
On the contrary, if you want a summary of the linked article, behold what the US destroyed :
- The law used to establish a minimum royalty of 30% for foreign companies.
It should have been much higher because it's their oil, they should allow a ROI of e.g. 20% and then keep 100%. Either that or only allow your public companies to operate.
Now, there is no royalty floor anymore !, it can be 1% or less, depending on "the need to ensure international competitiveness".
- There was a complementary mechanism to royalties(, which apparently aren't really paid in full if the declared earnings are too low, fiscal evasion often managed to do that in the past, e.g. by inflating some costs), that taxed a third of the value of the oil extracted, minus the royalty that has been paid.
It is now replaced by an "integrated tax" of up to 15% on gross revenue but, like royalties, once again reducible at the discretion of the Executive.
- And there was a third mechanism on net benefits this time(, and not gross revenue), which was a third for common activities, and exceptionally a half for oil activities.
This can now be arbitrarily reduced, once again at the sole discretion of the Executive.
- When the oil price rose to exceptional levels, then the state's portion increased as well.
I already pointed out how this is bullshit and not even neo-colonialism but just plain robbery at gunpoint, so adding that the cost of the enterprises 'is fixed'/'doesn't depend on the cost of oil' adds nothing.
As you guessed, there's now nothing like that, of course.
- Article 302 of the Constitution reserved for the State the activities of oil exploration, extraction and production. And only PDVSA could sell venezuelan oil on international markets.
Now, the state retains nominal property while others can extract, sell and charge. And Venezuela's ability to influence international prices is less powerful, its voice in OPEC less relevant(, or even entirely irrelevant depending on the share of venezuelan oil owned by foreigners).
- Before, the article 151 of the venezuelan constitution provided that disputes in contracts of public interest “shall be decided by the competent courts of the Republic”.
Now, the arbitration can be international(, e.g.), even if it's known that transnationals have decades of experience of winning cases against the states of the Global South.
- Similarly, oil contracts ought to be approved by the national assembly, while now this assembly only has to be notified 🙄.
- Previously, decree 5.200 of 2007 nationalized the Orinoco Strip, the largest oil reserves on the planet.
It has now been repealed. « The reserves that made us a world energy power return to the hands of transnationals. »
- Article 25 establishes a “financial economic balance” clause : if Venezuela changes any law that affects the profitability of an oil project, it must compensate the company to “restore the economic position that would have had to have not occurred such changes.”
If a future government wants to raise taxes, strengthen environmental or labor regulations, it will have to pay to do so.
Saudi Arabia, Norway, Qatar, the Arab Emirates — the successful oil countries — do not compete by giving away. They capture the rent and invest it. Venezuela chose the opposite path.
(...)
The law legalizes what was done in secret and establishes secrecy as a rule for what is to come.
(...)
A country can have bad oil policy and correct it. You can have corrupt governments and replace them. You can suffer crises and recover.
But if you sign long-term contracts with stabilization clauses, international arbitration and waive national jurisdiction, you lose the ability to correct. The chains are set for the generations to come.
(...)
On January 29, 2026, Venezuela ceased to own its oil in whatever sense it matters.
We retain the nominal property of the subsoil. But we lost control of who draws it, how it extracts it, to whom it sells it, at what price, under what jurisdiction, and what portion we have left.
Above all, we have lost the ability to decide.
Mandatory fuck the US, yay... :
Edit : Now opening the exploitation of gold, diamonds, and "rare earth" elements to private foreign capital : https://latablablog.wordpress.com/2026/03/09/en-10-datos-conozca-que-hay-tras-la-nueva-ley-de-minas-en-venezuela. That's the opposite of what the confederation of the Sahel states is doing.
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