Economic Sabotage

The sanctions stop PDVSA from collecting the proceeds of oil exported to US customers, while also freezing assets of PDVSA's units, including Citgo, its US-based subsidiary.

• 41% of their oil exports go to the US, and their biggest foreign asset is Citgo, the US-based refining army of their oil company.
• 95% of their exports are oil, the money is vital for importing food etc
• PDVSA is controlled by the military, so the goal here by the US government is to force the Venezuelan military to be loyal to Guaido.
• The sanctions will freeze $7bn in assets and result in $11bn of lost export revenue over the next year

Options on the table

See also:

>> The Making of Juan Guaidó