The trade activities through these ports are shown by this OEC reports:
Venezuela
ECI (Trade)
99th
Out of 132 (ECI: -0.83, 2023)
ECI (Technology)
91st
Out of 96 (ECI: -1.51, 2021)
ECI (Research)
108th
Out of 137 (ECI: -0.76, 2023)
Product Exports
$7.63B
Ranking 114 / 226 (2023)
Product Imports
$9.98B
Ranking 117 / 226 (2023)
Exports Per Capita
$269
Ranking 171 / 209 (2023)
Imports Per Capita
$353
Ranking 180 / 209 (2023)
Exports Growth
54.9%
$2.7B (2022-2023)
About
Overview
In 2023, Venezuela was the number 114 (out of 226) in total exports.
In 2023, Venezuela was the number 99 (out of 132) most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (Trade, 2023), the number 91 (out of 96) most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (Technology, 2021), the number 108 (out of 137) most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (Research, 2023).
Just as Russia seized Crimea then blockaded the Black Sea to prevent vital trade activities for Ukraine, so the US is threatening the Venezuelan people in a similar way.
Russia wants Ukraine to bend to a return to being a part of what was the Soviet Union. Then Russia would command its assets, just as it recently regained control of Georgia which also has ports on the Black Sea. Maritime routes are key.
The US regime wants control over Venezuelan resources and be subject to US control.
The playbook:
Example GEORGIA:
Strategically, Georgia’s location is crucial. It sits at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, bordering the Black Sea, which is a vital maritime route. Control or influence over Georgia allows Russia to project power into the South Caucasus, an area where Russia seeks to maintain a sphere of influence to counterbalance Western, particularly NATO and EU, expansion into what it considers its near abroad. Georgia’s territory also includes pipelines that transport oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe, bypassing Russian territory. This makes Georgia a significant player in energy transit routes, competing with Russian pipelines.
Geopolitically, Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO and the EU are seen by Russia as a direct challenge to its influence. The 2008 Russo-Georgian War over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where Russia intervened and subsequently recognized these regions as independent states, was partly motivated by these concerns. By maintaining control or influence over these breakaway regions, Russia can exert pressure on the Georgian government and hinder its Western integration efforts.
In Gaza, no exit left? Boxed in?:
The people are being pushed, by the Israeli Defence Force, backed by US approval, to an ever narrowing space toward the Mediterranean, which is also blockaded, thus has prevented fishermen bringing in their vital catches of another food source, similar to that situation now occurring off Venezuela where fishermen have been targeted and killed by US directed drones.
The Mediterranean has oil and gas platforms off Gaza which will not be supplying Palestinians any time soon.
Will the IDF move back until all of Gaza is clear of them?
Meanwhile, Israelis continue to steal land and kill innocents in the Palestinian West Bank:
TEL AVIV — A 16-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead at point-blank range by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the latest in a string of lethal shootings that bookend a particularly violent year for the enclave.
And
Killings of Palestinian children are soaring in the West Bank. Advocates say it happens with impunity
Human rights groups say Israeli forces face little accountability when minors die in military operations
Nick Logan · CBC News · Posted: Dec 20, 2023 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: December 20, 2023
The US backed ceasefire. How is that going for trapped Palestinians?
The price of ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza: More than 400 people dead in just three months and little hope for the future
When Donald Trump did his victory lap in Israel after announcing a ceasefire last October, he promised ‘peace for all eternity’. But Palestinians tell Alex Croft and Nedal Hamdouna they continue to face a grim daily reality of violence and destruction
And 37 Aid Groups suspended, thus weakening drastically the vital help these desperate Palestinians need. Slow and cruel death of innocents grinds on with no mercy intended.
Israel to bar 37 aid groups from Gaza
ByAmy Walker
Published30 December 2025
Israel is to revoke the licenses of 37 aid groups working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying they failed to meet requirements
Yemen declares emergency as S. Arabia bombs Mukalla port over UAE weapons shipment
Middle East
Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces declared a state of emergency Tuesday after Saudi Arabia bombed the port city of Mukalla over an alleged shipment of weapons for separatist forces from the United Arab Emirates. The attack signals a new escalation in tensions between the kingdom and UAE-backed separatist forces.
Pituffik Space Base, Greenland, built by the US, in early 1950s after Denmark was occupied by the Nazis in World War II, is on the coast.
1946, a combined Danish-American radio and weather station was established in the area near what is known today as Pituffik Space Base. The 1951 Defense Agreement between Denmark and the United States established the Thule Defense Area, and the base itself was built under Operation Blue Jay (1951-1953).
Pituffik SB’s mission. Known as the Space Force’s “Top of the World” vantage point, Pituffik is part of the Space Force’s global network of early missile warning and space domain awareness capabilities.
Then, as always, we note Greenland’s untapped resources:
Greenland is rich in natural resources, including rare earth elements, gold, zinc, lead, and oil. The melting ice due to climate change is making these resources more accessible, attracting international interest for mining and extraction. Brookings DW
Another coastline of a sovereign state is threatened:
Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland Triggers Sharp Divides, as Security Council Speakers Warn Move Threatens Stability in Horn of Africa
Somalia today condemned Israel’s “flagrant assault” on its country’s unity and territorial integrity through recognition of “Somaliland”, as multiple Security Council members and regional States warned the move was a provocative step that could inflame tensions in the Horn of Africa and undercut Mogadishu’s sovereignty and political cohesion.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, recalled that on 26 December, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel’s “official recognition” of “Somaliland” as an independent and sovereign State.
“Somaliland” has since said the recognition would lead to “the establishment of full diplomatic relations” with Israel and deepened cooperation across a broad range of sectors, framing it as confirmation of its sovereignty and independence.
“In response to these developments, the Federal Government of Somalia issued a statement reaffirming its absolute and non-negotiable commitment to its sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity,” Mr. Khiari told the Council.
It has categorically and unequivocally rejected what it called “a deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, he explained.
“No external actor has the authority” to alter Somalia’s territorial configuration, Somalia’s statement noted. Therefore, Somalia considers any “declaration, recognition or arrangement” that undermines that reality “null and void”.
“In its statement, Somalia also underscored that it would not permit the establishment of any foreign military bases or arrangement that would draw the country into proxy conflicts,” Mr. Khiari observed.
Israel’s announcement triggered broad regional and international pushback, including statements by Egypt, Jordan, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, as well as a joint statement by 20 Middle Eastern and African countries rejecting and condemning the action. Regional organizations and partners — including the League of Arab States, the Eastern African Community, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the European Union — reiterated the need to respect Somalia’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Diplomats from Somalia and Ethiopia have failed to reach an agreement following two days of indirect talks in Turkey, mainly over coastline access for Ethiopia, according to two officials who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity.
The talks focused on a dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia over a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed with Muse Bihi Abdi, president of the self-proclaimed, breakaway region of Somaliland, on January 1.
Under the MOU, Somaliland officials said they would lease 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of coastline for 50 years to Ethiopia in return for Addis Ababa recognizing Somaliland as an independent country. Somaliland has not gained any international recognition for its 1991 declaration of secession from Somalia.
The Somali government strongly rejected the Ethiopia-Somaliland deal and accused Ethiopia of violating Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
And Somalis within Minnesota are under great pressure:
The president has targeted Omar, who is Muslim, since his first term as president after she was elected to Congress in 2019 and became part of a progressive clique known as “The Squad.” In recent months, Trump has ramped up his attacks on the Minnesota Democrat and her home country of Somalia, where she was born.
Elon Musk ignited a political firestorm this week after seizing on a resurfaced video of Rep. Ilhan Omar and accusing her of betraying the country she serves.
According to Fox News, Musk’s accusation came in a blunt post on X, where he reacted to a clip of Omar reassuring Somali constituents last year that she would protect their homeland’s interests.
To Musk, the comments crossed a serious line.
“This sounds like treason,” Musk wrote as he reposted the translated footage.
The clip shows Omar speaking to supporters in Minnesota in early 2024 as debate intensified over whether Somaliland would permit Ethiopia to build a naval base along its coastline.
Omar — whose district includes the nation’s largest Somali community — insisted she would oppose any move she believed harmed Somalia.
According to the translation, Omar told listeners, “The U.S. government will do what we ask it to do.”
She went on to urge confidence within the Somali American community, adding, “While I am in Congress, no one will take Somalia’s sea, and the U.S. government won’t support others to rob us.”
Once Musk amplified the video, it spread even more widely, folding into a broader national debate already stirred by Trump’s rally the night before.
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
borderslynn 
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