Vaccines: Maduro proposes to buy oil in exchange
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has proposed that his country be allowed to pay for supplies of Covid-19 vaccines with oil, given that large financial resources abroad have been blocked by unilateral US sanctions. “We – he said in a televised speech – are ready and prepared to carry out this exchange. We also have customers who are willing to buy our crude oil and in exchange to pay the cost of drugs to immunize the Venezuelan population. But we will not beg anyone” . Venezuela, he insisted, will not kneel before anyone in the world. We have the dignity and resources to solve our problems. And this could be an ‘oil versus vaccine‘ trade. If this request receives the green light, he explained, “we could guarantee 100% vaccines for our population, and also the payment of the 2,400,000 doses of vaccine that the Covax mechanism of the World Health Organization (WHO) must provide us with. ). Maduro then reiterated that Venezuela “has oil tankers and customers ready to buy oil from us. And we would consecrate a part of the production to finance the purchase of the vaccines needed to fight Covid-19. “For years, important financial and gold resources have been blocked in the United States and Europe, while unilateral US sanctions have practically paralyzed the production capacity of the Pdvsa oil company and the margin for crude oil exports reduced due to the risk faced by countries and shipowners by deciding to facilitate the export of Venezuelan crude oil.
In Japan, the tourism subsidy campaign will not resume until June
The government of Japan has decided not to resume the promotion and subsidy campaign for domestic tourism from April, baptized “Go to Travel” and interrupted earlier this year, after the proclamation of a state of emergency for the pandemic in the prefectures and most populated metropolitan areas in the country. According to government sources cited by the Japanese press, subsidies will not resume before June, due to the new increase in infections in the country: in Tokyo, in particular, the daily toll of positive tampons returned above the threshold of 300 last weekend . The government of Japan has already budgeted 300 billion yen (2.8 billion dollars) to support municipalities for tourism support initiatives. According to the advances, the program will resume in a limited form: the State will allocate a maximum contribution of 7 thousand yen (64 dollars) for every single night of overnight stay in hotels in the country, but only for travelers who do not cross the borders of their prefecture. , and only in prefectures with low infection rates. The “Go to Travel” campaign has been contested in recent months by those who believe it has contributed to spreading coronavirus infections
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