Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/3/11/venezuelas-new-stations-offer-fuel-liquor-to-those-who-can-pay
Analysis: Over the past six months Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s current president, has been quietly handing over dozens of run-down gasoline stations to local entrepreneurs who have turned them into flashy retail complexes and have rebranded then under a new chain known as Via.
Venezuela’s new gasoline stations now boast digital fuel pumps and high-end, imported liquor. The stations are plastered in fresh coats of bright yellow and red paint, and in what’s become a rarity in Venezuela, actually sell gasoline. Although it’s for a price that only a few can afford.
These new stations mark the first phase of a desperate and complicated plan to rescue the state from US sanctions that have dealt a deadly blow to Venezuela’s oil business and choked the nation of fuel supplies so severely that gas stations have been forced to close.
Maduro’s plan is that the venture will operate as independent businesses and import fuel free of American sanctions that specifically target his administration and those who support it. Although the plan is fairly straight forward, upon further investigation, things get more complicated. The gas station deal carried out by Maduro’s administration, so far, aren’t publicly disclosed. Nobody seems to know who ultimately owns them or who runs them. Furthermore, some are raising concerns over whether the government itself is behind the operations.
These changes are a reaction to Venezuela’s current economic collapse and crisis, and they are not well-thought out. The new fuel pumps simply show the illusion of success, and aren’t part of a structural stabilization of the economy. The new pumps inauthenticity doesn’t simply end at the new gas stations, the state’s fuel import and distribution network is entirely in the hands of the US – sanctioned Petroleos de Venezuela SA. In reality, the new stations are very problematic. At new Via filling stations, drivers have access to gasoline that is better and costs 50 cents per liter, or $1.90 per gallon. Although this seems cheap by international standards, minimum wage in Venezuela is less than a dollar a month, plus food stamps. Older stations sell fuel for about 5,000 bolivars per liter, which is worth less than 0.3 cents. The new fuel stations have the illusion of improving Venezuela, when in reality they exclude the vast majority of Venezuelans and only improve the lives of the rich.
If one was to assign the new gas stations some geopolitical significance, they could be closely compared to Effective National/ Regional Territory. These geopolitical features are moderately populated areas with favorable resource bases, and high development potential for future population growth and economic expansion. Geopolitically, if one was to optimistically examine Maduro’s reason to develop these gas stations, it would be for their potential to generate economic new activity. The location of the gas stations, usually in run down areas, along with awarding them to local entrepreneurs generates a high level of development potential for both future population growth and economic expansion.