Petro

In a move set to reverberate through global markets and geopolitical dynamics, the United States has announced the renewal of sanctions against Venezuela, citing unmet political commitments by President Nicolás Maduro. This decision comes amid escalating tensions between the two nations and holds significant implications for Venezuela, a key player in the international oil arena.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro will visit China this week, Beijing's foreign ministry said yesterday, with the leftist leader seeking to strengthen ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Petro's visit comes at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and will take place from today to Oct. 26, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

Leftist Sen. Gustavo Petro celebrated his first-round lead in Colombia's presidential election in the way most politicians would: in a conference room packed with hundreds of supporters as confetti rained down upon him.

The man he'll meet in a June 19 runoff had a different approach.

An oil company registered in Cyprus has been blacklisted by US officials who blocked a total of four vessels for transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba.
According to Reuters, Caroil Transport Marine Ltd was among a number of companies accused of continuing "to circumvent sanctions by receiving oil shipments from Venezuela."

Cuba has announced it is considering the use of cryptocurrency in order to bolster its finances.

According to a report from SBS-AAP, the country's Communist government announced on state-run TV that it would potentially use crypto as part of a package aimed to boost incomes for as much as a quarter of Cubans and assist with market reforms.

President Klaus Iohannis has congratulated the new Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski for winning the election on Sunday. "I want to congratulate you for winning the election and becoming the head of the Ukrainian state and to wish you good luck in your new mission.

Ukraine yesterday opened its consulate in Turkey's Mediterranean province of Antalya with the participation of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko welcomed on March 2 the sale of U.S. Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, which he said would deter Russian aggression in the east of the country.

 Venezuela is preparing a new cryptocurrency called "petro gold" that will be backed by precious metals, President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, a day after launching an oil-backed token that has been panned as a pipe dream by blockchain experts, quoted by Reuters. 

Venezuela formally launched its new oil-backed cryptocurrency on Tuesday in an unconventional bid to haul itself out of a deepening economic crisis, reported AFP.

The leftist Caracas government put 38.4 million units of the world's first state-backed digital currency, the Petro, on private pre-sale from the early hours.