U.S.-Cuba rapprochement exposes Venezuela's Maduro

U.S.-Cuba rapprochement exposes Venezuela's Maduro
By Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) - Even as Cuba and the United States try to bury 50
years of enmity, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has seemed to be going
in the other direction, vilifying "insolent Yankees" at rallies and
threatening to cut ties completely.

Fellow leftists Cuba and Venezuela are arguably the most unconditional
allies in Latin America, but Cuban President Raul Castro's move to
rapprochement with the old "imperialist" enemy contrasts with Maduro's
fury at U.S. plans for sanctions against his own government.

"It looks like Raul is cheating on Nicolas!" scoffed Venezuelan
opposition leader Henrique Capriles in an interview with Reuters. "All
of the Americas going in one direction, and Nicolas doesn't know where
he's heading."

In a relationship borne from ex-presidents Fidel Castro and Hugo
Chavez's close friendship and ideological affinity, Cuba is reliant on
OPEC member Venezuela for economic support - to the tune of around
90,000-100,000 barrels-per-day of subsidized oil.

So its decision to restore ties with Washington may be motivated in part
by a desire to diversify away from Venezuela, given the increasingly
parlous support of the South American nation's economy and doubts over
Maduro's political future.

President Raul Castro's government has been paying for some of the oil
by sending more than 40,000 Cubans to Venezuela to work as medics,
sports trainers, and - most controversially - military and intelligence
advisers.

Though they are unlikely to admit it in public, both Maduro and Castro
may in fact be relieved that an economic lifeline looking likely to come
under strain, as Venezuela suffers recession and an oil price plunge,
could become less crucial.

Venezuela was already reducing its oil shipments to other allies in the
Petrocaribe alliance. It will almost certainly continue to help Cuba but
may be able to scale back, especially if Cuba can get oil from elsewhere.

SANCTIONS

The surprise announcement of the restoration in U.S.-Cuba ties came days
after the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation to
deny visas and freeze assets of Venezuelan officials accused of
repressing anti-Maduro protesters.

Obama plans to sign the legislation, the White House said.

That brought a thundering reaction from Maduro who said on Sunday he
sometimes wondered whether to close the U.S. embassy in Caracas and end
ties altogether, and on Monday led thousands of red-clad supporters in
an anti-sanctions march.

"They can shove their U.S. visas where they should be shoved, insolent
Yankees!" Maduro said in a speech reminiscent of his mentor Chavez's
14-year rule.

The Venezuelan leader did, though, join the global chorus of praise for
Obama's long-promised reconciliation with Cuba.

"It's a courageous and historically necessary step. It's possibly the
most important step of his presidency," Maduro said on Wednesday at a
regional summit in Parana, Argentina, notably ratcheting down his recent
tone.

"We continue seeking the best ways for ties with the giant in the north
to take the course they should, especially due to the news and fresh
winds in the Caribbean, in Cuba," added Maduro, seemingly taken by
surprise like many others.

Also speaking at the Mercosur summit, Ricardo Patino, the foreign
minister for Ecuador - another leftist member of the regional ALBA bloc
- said he hoped the U.S-Cuba change would provoke a re-think over
sanctions on Venezuela.

"President Obama's decision delights us," he told Reuters, adding it
could create "confusion" given the opposite signal sent by the
Venezuelan sanctions. "I hope the decisions Congress has asked President
Obama to take now don't go through."

However Venezuelan-U.S. political ties proceed, pragmatism still seems
to take precedence when it comes to business.

Venezuela remained the fourth biggest source of U.S. oil imports in
2013, supplying 797,000 barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum
products, according to U.S. government data.

(Additional reporting by Hugh Bronstein in Argentina and Alexandra Ulmer
in Venezuela; Editing by Kieran Murray)

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