Venezuelan President Coercing Airlines to Purchase Fuel Using Petro

Reviving Petro a Major Objective for the Venezuelan President

Nicolas Maduro published a decree on Tuesday in which he stated that airlines flying from Caracas would now have to pay for Venezuela’s fuel through Petro. He further urged for more extensive usage of the coin in the country. The latest move has come after the Venezuelan government had forced merchants to accept Petro at discounted rates. 

Maduro’s decree also proclaimed that the coin be used used for paying for state document services such as passports. However, despite his best efforts, the Venezuelan President has not succeeded in making Petro mainstream. Most Venezuelans avoid using Petro and don’t know how to use it either. Foreigners too shy away from using it as the U.S. had banned the coin. Also, many risk rating websites had labelled the project as a scam.

Maduro Determined to Make Petro a Success

In the past year, Maduro has taken several steps to make Petro more mainstream amongst the Venezuelans. Last year in May, Venezuela was trying to negotiate mutual trades in Petro with Russia. In December last year, the Venezuelan President again tried to promote the coin by approving bonuses for pensioners and public employees but insisting upon their payment in Petro.

However, it wasn’t long before people began exchanging the coins for bolivars, which they later used to purchase other currencies. To counter that, the country recently blocked any possibility of exchanging Petros for bolivars.

Purchasing Oil and Gold Through Petro

The announcement by the Venezuelan President decreeing airlines to purchase fuel through Petro has come days after he announced that Petro would be used for oil and gold sales. However, Maduro’s latest announcement lacks details, and it is not clear whether the measures would only concern Venezuelan firms or international carriers too.