Venezuela-US trade under the microscope

If you have followed the last 12 months of tit-for-tat insults between Venezuela and the US, you could easily be forgiven for assuming that the trade relationship between Venezuela and Washington is similarly fraught.

Nothing could be further from the truth. While President Hugo Chavez launches tirade after tirade at his counterpart in Washington and the White House responds in kind, trade between the two nations is actually going from strength to strength.

A quick glance at the latest figures speaks volumes. Just four years ago commerce - imports and exports - between Venezuela and its business partner in the North was around $20bn a year.

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