U.S. Congress demands to prevent influence of Russia on situation in Venezuela

Member of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress from the Democratic Party Debbie Wasserman Schultz has prepared a bill in which the American authorities are asked to assess the threats and develop a strategy to counter Russian influence in Venezuela. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, referring to the website of the Congress.

An excerpt from the draft law is posted on the department's website. The co-authors of this initiative in the materials to the document are democrats Darren Soto, Debbie Mukarsel-Powell, Donna Shalala and republican Mario Díaz-Balart.

In addition, the bill provides for "an assessment of the acquisition of the assets of the PDVSA Citgo Venezuelan state-owned oil company's subsidiary in the United States by foreign investors".

So, on February 28, the House of Representatives forwarded the document for consideration to the Foreign Affairs Committee and Judicial Committee of the U.S. Senate. The terms of these procedures are not specified in the draft law: they will be determined by the speakers of each of the committees.

In late February, the government of the current leader of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro ordered local companies to open bank accounts in Russia, Turkey, China and India. In late January, the Venezuelan parliament announced an attempt to export gold to Russia. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó called on citizens for new mass protests across the country against Nicolás Maduro on Monday, March 4, when he should return to the country after a week-long Latin American countries tour.