The USA announced this Wednesday that some sanctions that burden Venezuela have been temporarily lifted. Including those in the oil and gas industryAfter the Government of Nicolás Maduro and the country’s opposition agreed on international supervision of the next elections.
However, the Joe Biden Administration has warned that the suspension of sanctions on oil and gas will remain in effect for six months and They may reconsider the decision if there is no progress toward democratic elections and the release of detained Americans in Venezuela.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that “general licenses have been issued that eliminate the secondary trade ban, as well as allowing transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector and gold sector.” “Treasury stands ready to modify or revoke the authorizations at any time if Maduro’s representatives fail to comply with their commitments,” the text said. The statement is included.
The Treasury Department said that the United States made this decision in response to the signing of the election road map agreement between the Venezuelan Unitary Platform and representatives of the Maduro Government.
The government and the opposition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) signed two agreements on Tuesday on guarantees, including international observation, for the 2024 presidential elections in Barbados. Inside election guarantees agreementFollowing the signing, the Maduro Government stated that the parties are committed to continuing the dialogue and negotiation process regarding other measures, “understanding the need to lift sanctions against the State of Venezuela.”
In response to this agreement, the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a statement this Wednesday. 4 general licenses with suspension of certain sanctionsAlthough he stated that all other restrictions the US has imposed on Venezuela “will remain in effect” and that the US will continue to “hold bad actors accountable.”
More specifically, the US issued a six-month general license that temporarily allows transactions related to the oil and gas sector; this license “will only be renewed if Venezuela fulfills its commitments under the election road map, as well as other commitments related to these sectors.” It also issued a second general license allowing transactions with Minerven (Venezuelan state gold mining company) and, according to the Treasury, this will have the effect of reducing the black market gold trade. And finally, it has also issued a second general license allowing transactions with Minerven (Venezuelan state gold mining company) Two licenses were amended to eliminate the ban on secondary trading of debt and equity of the company PdVSA. The Treasury said that the ban on trading Venezuelan bonds in the primary market remained in force. “The Treasury said that this would also have a positive impact on displacing nefarious actors in this market and assesses that it will provide negligible financial benefit to the Venezuelan regime,” he said.
According to the data of the Venezuelan Government, countries such as the USA, Canada, Panama and the European Union (EU) countries imposed these sanctions. More than 900 sanctions Since 2015, most investigations into Venezuela have been against officials personally accused of undermining democracy.