WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. government yesterday authorized shipments to Venezuela of liquefied petroleum gas, mainly used in the OPEC nation as cooking fuel and currently in short supply, causing people to burn large amounts of wood.
The U.S. Treasury Department authorized through July 8, 2022, some exports and re-exports of the gas, known as LPG, to Venezuela that had not been permitted by executive orders in 2018 and 2019 during the Trump administration.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the Treasury Department, issued a license allowing shipments of the gas in transactions involving the government of Venezuela, state energy company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) or any entity in which PDVSA owns a 50% or greater interest. The license does not allow any payment-in-kind of oil or oil products, OFAC said.
Many people in Venezuela burn LPG for cooking fuel but it has become scarce as the country’s economy has collapsed. U.S. sanctions on PDVSA have choked investments in its refining network, leading more people to burn wood for fuel and to long lines for diesel and gasoline.
The increase in wood burning can boost respiratory problems from the smoke, raise temperatures in cities and put environmental stress https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-firewood-idUSKCN1VJ1EJ on lands already experiencing deforestation from fires and lumber demand for home construction.
The Biden administration retained Trump-era sanctions on PDVSA to pressure Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, who Washington accuses of rights violations and rigging his 2018 re-election. The Biden administration has sought more input from allies and trading partners as it seeks to put the country on a path to fair elections.
LPG is a group of gases including propane, normal butane and isobutane.
Dominican court grants bail to fugitive Indian-born jeweller Choksi
MUMBAI, (Reuters) – A Dominican court yesterday granted bail to Mehul Choksi on medical grounds, less than two months after the fugitive jeweller wanted in India’s largest bank fraud case, was detained for illegal entry into the Caribbean nation.
The court has allowed Choksi to travel to Antigua for cure of a neurological disorder that has no available treatment in Dominica, his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told Reuters.
“He has to come back and face his cases,” Aggarwal said, adding that proceedings against him have been adjourned until he is certified fit to travel.
Choksi, born in India, was captured in Dominica in May, days after going missing from Antigua, which triggered a global manhunt.
One of the main defendants in the $2 billion fraud at India’s Punjab National Bank (PNB), Choksi had been living in Antigua and Barbuda after fleeing India before the fraud came to light.
Although Choksi secured a passport in Antigua, an Indian official told Reuters in 2019 that India still considered him to be a citizen and that the government was pushing for his extradition.
Choksi’s legal team has claimed he was kidnapped and forcefully taken to Dominica from where he was to be “whisked away to India bypassing the proper legal processes in Antigua and Dominica.”
Indian federal police have filed fraud charges against Choksi, his nephew, Nirav Modi, and others in connection with their suspected involvement in fraudulent transactions that led to losses of about $2 billion for PNB.
PNB alleged in 2018 that a few rogue employees had issued fake bank guarantees over several years to help jewellery groups controlled by Modi and Choksi to raise funds in foreign credit.
Both Modi and Choksi have denied any wrongdoing. Modi was arrested in London in 2019 and is fighting extradition to India.
