Long-suffering Venezuela has been trying to survive under a mountain of US sanctions for many years.
The country that used to be the richest in Latin America has become impoverished.
Million-dollar inflation, empty shelves - and this despite the huge oil reserves.
There is four times more oil in Venezuela than in Russia.
And they also say: it’s easy for Putin to be such an excellent ruler, just sell oil and the budget is covered.
But here is an example of a friendly Venezuela - there is a lot of oil, but no gasoline.
And in general there is nothing ... No bread, no food.
The average Venezuelan lost 8 kg in a year and only eats once a day, and not every day.
Revenues to the treasury fell by 99%.
But here is a positive development.
America is in dire need of oil, Russia is blocked - however, the United States still imports Russian oil through intermediaries.
Iran is blocked, the Emirates demand a contract for 30 years, Saudi Arabia cannot sell - it does not have.
So, we have to turn to Venezuela.
She is in a terrible state: America did not limit itself to sanctions on oil, but confiscated both Venezuelan gold and foreign bank accounts.
Now she agrees to America's craziest demands.
A couple of years ago, in order not to argue over trifles, the United States made opposition figure Guaido the presidency of Venezuela.
They gave him money from Venezuela and accounts in a London bank.
They gave him the embassy building.
And then they tried to seize power by force of arms.
Mercenaries launched.
But nothing came of them.
Now the Venezuelan government has signed an agreement with the opposition.
Guaido is also among the opposition.
True, his comrades in the opposition do not agree with his participation - they say he is nobody.
But nevertheless the contract was signed.
Under the agreement, a UN-managed fund is being created that will give money to the Venezuelan government for food and medicine.
And when the United States wants, they will also take away this fund.
For now, by agreement.
Most importantly, the American oil company Chevron will pump oil and transport it to the United States.
True, Venezuelan oil is especially heavy, and few places can process it.
Russia tried to help Venezuela, and the Russian oil company was extracting black gold.
But then she left the country, and only Iran continued to buy Venezuelan oil.
Now the sanctions have been eased, but clearly not enough, while the sanctions on the use of dollars and on loans remain in place.
Sanctions remain a powerful trade war weapon in the hands of the United States.
Also completely blocked remains the country - the closest ally of Venezuela, Cuba.
People live there for years without electricity.
There is a feeling of pride that Russia was not afraid of the sanctions.
This is a serious test even for a country rich in oil.
President Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, speaking at the UN after US President Bush Jr., crossed the podium and said that he smells sulfur, America is the devil.
And this devil does not want to let go of his victim.
Venezuela will not get a cent from selling its oil to the United States.
The mining company will not even pay taxes.
The Americans also demand that the elections be held under their supervision - as we saw quite recently, in the United States any fraud with the vote count is considered legal if the favorite wins as a result.
And Senator Menendez has already threatened the Venezuelans that the screws will be tightened to the limit if the elections are delayed.
China is buying Venezuelan oil at a deep discount.
China is considered an important ally of Venezuela.
In general, it is difficult.
And how you can pay is unclear, because the United States banned not only dollars, but also the Venezuelan digital currency.
Venezuela agreed with Russia on payment in rubles and bolivars.
But it's not so easy because the US is blocking Venezuelan oil.
Venezuelans say: poor country - so far from God and so close to the United States.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.