MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, major oil-producing countries, including both Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and non-cartel states, failed to reach an agreement in the Qatari capital of Doha to maintain output at current levels.
"It is behind everything that’s happened in Doha, what the United States is trying to do is drown Venezuela in all anti-democratic fashions to then take over control of one of the greatest reserves in the world," del Pino said at an oil and gas conference in Moscow.
Relations between Washington and Caracas have worsened recently over alleged human rights violations during protests in Venezuela’s capital against the government of President Nicolas Maduro in February of 2014.
In March 2015, US President Barack Obama issued an executive order imposing new sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials, freezing their assets and banning them from entering the United States. Obama described the "erosion" of human rights guarantees in Venezuela as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to US security.
