The U.S. to Reinstate Sanctions on Venezuelan Oil and Gas

The U.S. will not renew a temporary license that brought down sanctions on Venezuelan Oil and Gas. At its core, the issue that surrounds Maduro’s regime is the lack of guarantees for the opposition to hold free and democratic elections later this year. 

An official representative of the Biden administration stated, “Due to the lack of advances of the Maduro regime and lack of free and fair conditions for opposition candidates, the United States will not renew this license when it expires on April 18.”

Last year the United States lifted sanctions on Venezuela after the Barbados Agreement. The idea behind this was to incentivize the Maduro regime to have free elections. However, this license had a time frame and would only be upheld if there was progress in Venezuela’s electoral process. 

By January 2024 the United States had already imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s gold industry and continuously reminded Maduro that sanctions would be re-imposed. The sanctions imposed on Venezuela’s gold industry ended up causing the Supreme Court to ratify the inability of opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado to run for office. 

Machado was the overwhelming favorite to be the opposition candidate. In last year’s primary elections that were celebrated in October, Machado received 92,3% of the votes. After being rehabilitated by the court, Machado designated Corina Yoris as her successor in the elections, but the government did not allow her to run. 

Last week, the Chavista regime confirmed its participation in a private meeting with representatives from the United States, which took place in Mexico. They discussed sanctions and the “agreed schedule” for easing these restrictions.

Are U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas going to be upheld?

In a statement, Caracas explained that during the meeting, its delegates denounced the “non-compliance of the North American Administration with the agreed schedule for lifting sanctions”, some of which were relaxed in October, for six months that will expire next Thursday.

In simpler terms, the Chavista government of Venezuela recently met with U.S. representatives in Mexico. They discussed the timeline for lifting sanctions against Venezuela and its oil and gas industry. However, Venezuelan officials have accused the U.S. of not adhering to this agreed timeline.