Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Wouldn't stealing all the foreign assets of Venezuela by US and UK also affect the Venezuela economy? There are a number of things wrong with this statement. 1. Timing is off. The U.S. didn't freeze Venezuelan assets until 2019 after Chavez died and the economy had already collapsed. 2. $342 Million in cash was frozen and 1.1. million barrels of oil were seized, the rationale being that this was a small dent to off…
> The value of the foreign assets seized by Venezuela far exceeds the value of Venezuelan foreign holdings seized in response. This sounds wrong. Do you have a source?
But that's just one case.
Solely in Oil and Gas, Venezuela nationalized $30 Billion worth of investment in 2007, and paid out only $1 Billion.[3]
You can read more in this 2012 summary[3]
Of course there were many more nationalizations after 2012, e.g. the GM plant they seized in 2017[4]. You can do your own googling for more fun about everthing from DishTV to telecom equipment, gold mines, etc. Venezuela seized virtually all foreign investment in the country. They owe the international community a huge debt. The diversion of those 4 tanker ships and freezing a couple hundred million is just the first of many, many payments that Venezuela needs to make.
See also https://tennesseestar.com/2020/01/14/eight-industries-venezu...
[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-exxon/venezuela...
[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-exxonmobil-idUS...
[3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-nation...
[4] https://money.cnn.com/2017/04/20/news/gm-venezuela-plant-sei...