We’ll go Down The Rabbit Hole in a few but first…BNN Bloomberg reports that US officials met secretly with members of Venezuela President (dictator) Nicolas Maduro’s administration to keep him engaged in negotiations over democratic reforms as the April 18th deadline nears to reinstate (or not) sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry.

 Representatives at the meeting in Mexico City included Daniel Erikson of the US National Security Council and Maduro’s chief negotiator Jorge Rodriguez. The US National Security Council and Venezuela’s information ministry did not reply to requests for comment.

 If the sanctions-easing suspension is lifted Venezuela could lose $2 billion in oil revenues by the end of 2024, according to Caracas-based economic firm Ecoanalitica.

 To reiterate our take here at TFT : Nicolas Maduro, with his less than 15% approval rating, can’t win a free and fair election so that won’t happen. Joe Biden really doesn’t want to reimpose sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry because sanctions-easing makes it appear that he’s trying to do something about high gasoline prices, even though the reality is that Venezuela no longer produces enough oil to impact gas prices (production under Chavismo is down 75%). Since reimposing sanctions (as he said he would do) wouldn’t play well with his political narrative in an election year, that won’t happen.

 Expect plenty of spin, double talk, and propaganda but Maduro will do what he wants and Biden will do nothing of consequence. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.

 Then we have Rio Times reporting that Nicolas Maduro’s National Assembly is considering a proposed bill termed “Law Against Anti-Fascism, Neo-Fascism, and Similar Expressions”.

 VP Delcy Rodriguez claims the bill targets global fascism, addressing hate, violence, and “economic fascism”, referencing sanctions against Venezuela.

 The bill proposes jail terms for protest organizers and permits closing or fining of media outlets for “prohibited messages”.

 Similar to the regime’s “Anti-Hate Law”, which means whatever they want it to mean, it’s just another arrow in the Chavista’s repression quiver.

 And we have Thema News reporting that Italian shipping broker Erik Roveta has been detained in Greece over his alleged involvement in an international scheme to steal fuel from Venezuela and embezzle cryptocurrency, worth a total of $26 billion.

 He has been arrested on Interpol “Red Notices” twice, once in Doha and once in Greece, and subsequently released so we’ll have to see if this goes anywhere.

 Now, lets head Down The Rabbit Hole…

 Chapter 6/ continued…

 …What about ratings agencies or organizations? Maybe they could shed some light on this if I’m still undaunted in my quest to own PTR (“El Petro”). I mean, after all, the government announced in their “pre-sale” that they sold $735 million in PTR, no wait…they upped that to $3.3 billion…no wait…it’s actually $5 billion. I don’t want to let an opportunity pass me by, do I? (Ever heard the term “FOMO”, fear of missing out?) It turns out that none of the above sales claims could be verified… Shocker! The top four cryptocurrency ratings organizations said “El Petro” was a scam, while the others simply refused to issue a rating. The Washington Post did, however, have something to say, “The ‘Petro’ might be the most obviously horrible investment ever”. It’s also telling that the Chavistas wouldn’t accept their own currency for purchases of PTR, although they would modify that stance after Maduro announced his economic overhaul and the introduction of the “Sovereign Bolivar”.

 Despite these inconsistencies, Maduro dispatched his minions around the globe to get some buyers for PTR (“El Petro”). I guess having been rejected on his last couple of jaunts around the globe begging for money he decided to send emissaries. He offered a 35% discount to anyone that would support “The Glorious Bolivarian Revolution”. There were many reports of much more substantial discounts offered but they were unconfirmed, believable (if you know anything about these guys) but unconfirmed. Chavismo hyped the global interest to the max. “The Oil Minister to present ‘Petro’ proposal to OPEC”…”Venezuela and Russia discuss ‘Petro’ for …” … Venezuela and China meet regarding ‘Petro proposal”…and on and on it went. At the end of all this, actual, verified sales of “El Petro”, ZERO!

 To further confuse the issue there was a dizzying array of announcements by Maduro, his Crypto Minister, and other government officials :

 “Maduro hints at second crypto offering, ‘Petro Oro’ , a gold-backed cryptocurrency”

 “Maduro launches creation of Petro-funded crypto bank for youth initiatives”

 “Petro will be tied to the Fuerte Bolivar beginning in August” (weeks before he launched his new currency)

 “Petro will be used as unit of account for salaries, goods, and services”

 Decree 3.196 announced that the backing for “El Petro” would consist of a barrel of oil or… wait for it… WHATEVER COMMODITY THE NATION DECIDES !!!

 Also in Decree 3.196 two different prices are referenced for a barrel of oil. One refers to the OPEC basket price, while the other refers to the Venezuela basket price, which are far apart, not to mention one is denominated in dollars and the other in yuan.

 More tomorrow….