Venezuela cuts ties with U.S. over Iran

Venezuela has severed its relations with the U.S. after Washington imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state-owned oil company for supplying gasoline to Iran.

According to examiner.com, Venezuela officially “froze” relations with the United States on Sunday, a top diplomat from President Hugo Chavez’s government said.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro also hinted that re-establishing relations with the U.S. would be “impossible.”

On May 24, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s giant oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for providing Iran with gasoline and other refined oil products.

Under the sanctions, PDVSA is denied U.S. government contracts and banned from Washington’s export financing.

Maduro had earlier described the sanctions as “illegal, abusive measures taken by this weak government of the United States.”

Venezuela’s Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who is also the head of PDVSA, said on May 25 that Venezuela would continue to maintain relations with Iran and any other country it wants.

“This is a right we are not going to renounce,” Ramirez said.

Approximately 26 percent of Venezuela’s imports are from the United States. Venezuela is one of the United States’ main suppliers of petroleum, selling it about 1 million barrels of oil per day.

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