IMF warns Venezuela’s economy and humanitarian situation is ‘quite fragile’
Figures show Venezuela’s public debt sits at roughly 180 percent of its GDP as the country struggles with tumult.

Figures show Venezuela’s public debt sits at roughly 180 percent of its GDP as the country struggles with tumult.







![Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the country would double down on solar power generation [File: Norlys Perez/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-01-17T014142Z_1618701892_RC2K2JA0KWPC_RTRMADP_3_USA-VENEZUELA-CUBA-1770321518.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

US President Donald Trump’s plan to sell Venezuelan oil to India is neat, but may be operationally messy, analysts say.
We visualise the scale of the world’s largest oil reserves, worth trillions of dollars and now controlled by the US.
US president had slapped India with a punitive 25% tariff for buying Russian oil on top of a 25% ‘reciprocal’ tariff.
India is not importing significant amounts of Iranian oil owing to US sanctions as it turned to Russia for supplies.
Trump signs executive order ramping up pressure on Havana’s oil supplies in wake of US abduction of Venezuela’s Maduro.
The Trump administration has pressured Venezuela to increase foreign access to the country’s large oil reserves.
Operations were paused indefinitely in 2021 due to escalating violence in the region.
Pemex, burdened with significant debt, financial and operational constraints, now faces competition from Venezuelan oil.
The president says Mexico’s decision ‘to sell or give oil to Cuba for humanitarian reasons’ was a ‘sovereign’ one.
Ambassador Carlos de Cespedes says US pressure ‘will not subjugate’ Cuba as Venezuelan oil exports to island dry out.