Venezuela proposes paying for coronavirus vaccines with oil
‘We are ready and prepared for oil for vaccines, but we will not beg anyone’
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday proposed paying for vaccines against the novel coronavirus with oil, though he provided few details about how such a scheme would work.
The crisis-stricken OPEC nation’s crude exports have plummeted to their lowest levels in decades since Washington sanctioned state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela in 2019, cutting off Venezuela’s exports to the United States and dissuading many other customers from buying Venezuelan oil as well.
Mr Maduro said Venezuela was working to pay for vaccines from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX mechanism - which provides vaccine access to poor countries - both through Venezuelan funds frozen in overseas accounts due to sanctions, and through oil shipments.
“Venezuela has the oil vessels and has the customers who will buy our oil,” Mr Maduro said in a state television address. “We are ready and prepared for oil for vaccines, but we will not beg anyone.”
Venezuela has received vaccine doses from allies Russia and China. The government and the opposition had been in talks with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) over Venezuela’s access to vaccines through COVAX, but the government said last week it would not accept the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine, one of the main inoculations deployed by COVAX in Latin America.
Read more:
Washington labels Mr Maduro - who has overseen an economic collapse since taking office in the South American country in 2013 - a dictator who rigged his 2018 re-election and has violated human rights in crackdowns on dissent.
Mr Maduro says Washington is seeking to oust him in a coup to control Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world by some measures.
Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments