Tag: sanctions

Posted on by Tim Worstall

Danielle John Hasn’t Been Sanctioned 229 Days For Missing A Meeting

The Observer gives us the tragic tale of benefits sanctions in Britain today. The bastards, the bastards:

Last week, a woman’s sanction letter from the Department for Work and Pensions went viral on Twitter. Danielle John, from Cardiff, simply wrote: “Was told to put this up on Twitter… this was because I had a miscarriage and missed appointment.” These stories are fairly common now. We are used to seeing reports about people being sanctioned because of attending a funeral/cancer treatment/their child being in hospital.

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

Bit Of A Problem – Gazprombank Confiscates Accounts of Venezuela’s PDVSA

In order to get out from under the American – therefore capitalist, sneaky and imperialist – sanctions placed upon Venezuela’s oil business they decided that they would go and bank at Gazprombank. Surely being under Putin’s wing would protect their money? As it turns out, no.

As in fact I predicted as this all started.

Russian lender Gazprombank has decided to freeze the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under US sanctions, a Gazprombank source told Reuters on Sunday.

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

Venezuela’s Moving Oil Business To Russian Banking System To Beat US Sanctions

Venezuela is trying to beat the US sanctions on its oil exports by moving the payments system over to the Russian banking system. This has the merit – for Venezuela’s current government at least – that it’ll work in the first iteration. Whether it continues to work after that depends upon how aggressively the US decides to pursue the enforcement of the sanctions.

For it’s worth noting what the US claims as being within its own jurisdiction.…

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

Now The US Sanctions On Venezuela Are Really Going To Bite

Up until now – pace Ken Livingstone – any sanctions upon Venezuela have been, at the economy level, entirely trivial. They’ve been about trying to make sure the leading kleptomaniacs at the top don’t get to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth, no more. This is now changing as the new American sanctions become clearer.

For it isn’t just that US citizens and organisations should not buy Venezuelan oil without putting the payment into escrow. It’s that anyone using the American payments and banking system should do so.…

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

Proof Of Trump’s Russia Innocence – Oil Sanctions On Venezuela And Citgo

Donald Trump has announced sanctions on Venezuela’s oil business and that’s a useful little proof – indication wouldn’t be strong enough – of the manner in which he’s not in fact beholden to Russia. Because major losers here are in fact the Russians. Trump does something that imperils Russian economic interests? He’s not working for them then, is he?

The Trump administration has tightened the screws on Venezuela’s embattled president, Nicolás Maduro, announcing sanctions against the country’s state-owned oil company PDVSA in what the US national security adviser admitted was partly an attempt to counter strategic threats from Cuba and Iran.

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

To Explain The Huawei Iran Sanctions Story – Yes, US Law Applies

That the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, a Chinese company, has been arrested in Canada over issues of breaking American law might seem a little odd. Seriously? How can someone in a Chinese company in China break US law? But I have to tell you – and this is from direct personal experience, I’ve been there and done this – US law really does apply. Assuming, that is, that what we’re told abut the story so far is correct.…

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

Business And The Rule Of Law- Yup, It’s Important In Iran Too

From our Special Correspondent in the oil industry:

From the BBC:

France has condemned as “unacceptable” a US move to re-impose sanctions on companies trading with Iran.

The action from Washington followed President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a landmark deal that sought to curb Iran’s nuclear programme.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said European companies should not have to pay for the US decision.

So much for this being about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, eh?…

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

Trump’s Iran Call Reimposes Sanctions On All, Not Just American Companies

That the US pulls out of the nuclear deal with Iran will mean that US sanctions are reimposed upon US companies. That’s generally how domestic law works of course. But it will also mean that pretty much everyone else – other than say North Korea and the like – also have to obey US sanctions. There’s a lot of spluttering about this over here in Europe but that is in general the way that things will work out.…

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Posted on by Tim Worstall

The US Ban On Venezuela’s Petro Is A Bad, Bad Idea – Let It Fail Alone

The United States has decided to ban – in the form of sanctions – transactions in Venezuela’s new cryptocurrency, the Petro. This is a bad, bad, idea. For it plays right into the hands of the usual idiots who insist that the only reason the socialist revolution has never worked in Latin America is because of the Damn Yanquis. This not actually being the cause, rather, Latin American socialism has always been destined for failure on the grounds that Latin American socialism is never going to work, Damn Yanquis or not.…

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