The USG has announced it is sanctioning Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Under the sanctions the US is still buying and allowing the purchase of oil produced by PDVSA while further allowing PDVSA to continue operating in the US under its Citgo brand (archived). Per their announcement the criminal organization referring to itself as the United States Government is touting their theft of 7 billion USD and projecting a further 11 billion USD to be captured over the next year. Further the USG is promising to keep the funds in "restricted accounts" payable to their chosen interim president or another interim government of the USG's choosing. This theft dwarfs the current paper fiat value of gold the Bank of England has denied the Venezuelan government.

From the involvement of John Bolton to the brazen nature of this theft cloaked as sanctions, the situation suggests the USG may be pivoting back to imagineering an Iraq style regime change endgame in the Bush/Rice tradition over an Obama type sustained color spring. For his part, Maduro spent his weekend visiting the troops as he oversaw and participated in drills and exercises.