Morning Shot: Rise and Fall of Venezuela as a Petrostate - What does an “America first” approach to Venezuela look like?

The political and economic situation between the United States and Venezuela is growing increasingly tense - spanning domestic and international borders, involving deportations, oil tariffs, and geopolitical maneuvering.

Even as questions arise in a legal challenge over the process to determine gang members, the Trump administration deported more alleged Venezuelan and MS-13 gang members to El Salvador over the weekend.

On the trade front - US President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order declaring that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on trades with the US. According to the executive order, the 25% tariff to be imposed on buyers of Venezuelan oil will take effect on 2nd April and would be combined with any existing tariffs.

On this episode of Morning Shot, we dig deeper into the constitutional debate behind the deportations, impacts of oil tariffs on Venezuela as a petrostate, and why Venezuela’s ongoing descent into economic and political chaos is a cautionary tale of the dangerous influence that resource wealth can have on developing countries.

Presented by: Emaad Akhtar & Audrey Siek
Produced by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg) 
Photo credits: Maxwell Briceno/Reuters; Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters; Doug Mills/The New York Times; Atlantic Council

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