We find ourselves in a geopolitical environment of great volatility that threatens energy prices around the world, triggered by the bloody and unjustified genocide of Vladimir Putin against the Ukrainian people who resist with courage and courage.
The war has altered the global prices of inputs such as urea and phosphate, among others, as well as the price of products such as wheat and sunflower oil, which play a central role in food production;
And it goes without saying about metals such as copper, iron and nickel: the two countries involved in this despicable situation are leading actors, which is why the current uncertainty translates into monumental costs for those who import these products.
In the case of energy, the situation is more critical, because the dependence of many European countries on gas exports from Russia has become a latent threat.
In the case of oil, for its part, the weight of Russia as an exporter has made the war a factor that allows the price of crude oil to rise, raising the production costs of millions of companies around the planet.
Faced with this volatility and uncertainty, pragmatism has once again become a path for international relations, in which the important thing is to obtain energy, and, of course, hydrocarbons, at whatever price.
One of the beneficiaries of this dangerous and inconsistent pragmatism is Nicolás Maduro, the dictator of Venezuela, who has received as a sort of boost the negotiation with Chevron so that the company can once again explore, produce and export crude oil from Venezuela.
In a few words, Maduro wants to take advantage of the global energy situation to make a kind of barter, in which, the more capacity to produce Venezuelan crude, the more respect and tolerance he will receive for his totalitarian government and violator of human rights.
Last week, a mission from the United Nations Organization presented a chilling report that shows in depth the crimes against humanity that the Maduro regime, through its Bolivarian Intelligence Service -SEBIN- commits systematically and that merit, according to the recommendations of the report, the effective action of the International Criminal Court.
All that said, allowing Maduro to rebuild an oil-producing apparatus that he himself destroyed is to reward his atrocities.
The oil that will come out of Venezuela, if this happens, will be a crude in which the blood of defenseless citizens, opponents, journalists and millions of people who have left the country to find refuge and hope in other places goes.
Maduro and Putin are the same thing.
They are dictators, murderers, criminals against humanity and violators of human rights.
The world would not understand sanctions against Putin and I respect Maduro, when the latter has done to the Venezuelan people what Putin has done to the people of Ukraine.
In short, the dignity of a democratic continent and the dignity of the Venezuelan people cannot be negotiated, simply because any agreement with Chevron will have bloody oil as the final product.
Iván Duque Márquez
is the former president of Colombia.
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