The Lloyd’s List Podcast: South American strife

On this week's podcast our senior reporters consider what the deadly collapse of a dam around one of Vale's iron ore mines and sanctions against Venenzuela's oil business mean for the maritime industry. xx A tumultuous week in South America saw a fatal dam collapse in Brazil and a struggle for power with international involvement in Venezuela. Iron more behemoth Vale found itself at the center of yet another physical disaster in Brazil, after the dam that held mud and water form its Feijao mine burst. According to international news reports, more than 100 people have died from the collapse and hundreds are missing. Vale subsequently decided to stop iron ore production in other mines to dismantle 10 dams, translating into a drop of 40m tonnes of iron ore annually. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Juan Guaido’s decision to name himself interim president of the country in the face of contested legitimacy of current president Nicolas Maduro set off a chain of events. After throwing their support behind Mr Guaido, the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil producer Petróleos De Venezuela. This week the Lloyd’s List Podcast looked at the impact of these events on the maritime sector and what we can expect they could bring for it in near future.