Good question. If Maduro carries out this initiative properly and effectively, it just might succeed.

Maduro stated that the "Petro" will be backed by the country's oil, gold, gas, and diamond reserves. For any country that needs to buy its oil, the Petro will become increasingly more attractive than the petrodollar.

Since Venezuela recently abandoned the use of the petrodollar, you can bet that the US is trying to do whatever it can to put Venezuela back in "its place." The Petro might be one way of circumventing any such efforts.