US seeks to turn to Venezuela to supply crude oil

AFP, Ap and Sputnik

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, March 8, 2022, p. 3

Washington and Caracas., The White House announced yesterday that a US delegation held talks over the weekend in Venezuela with the government of President Nicolás Maduro and other authorities, and that the energy supply was on the table, while Washington seeks ways to reduce its imports of Russian oil.

The purpose of the trip that the administration officials made was to discuss a variety of topics that certainly include energy, energy securityJoe Biden government spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

In turn, the Venezuelan president confirmed last night that he held a meeting cordial with a delegation from the United States and that it was agreed to work on an agenda of common interest, without further details being known at the close of this edition. Maduro also announced that the dialogue tables in Mexico with the opposition will be reactivated and expressed his deep concern about the possibility of a war in Europe and an extension to other regions of the world after Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.

Psaki added that the delegation also discussed the situation of US citizens detained in Venezuela, including six Citgo executives arrested in 2017. But he stressed that talks on energy and the fate of those detained are separate conversations.

There was a discussion that members of the administration had over the course of the last few daysthe spokeswoman pointed out. And part of our focus is also on the health and well-being of American citizens in detention..

The United States and Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations in early 2019, after Maduro assumed a second term in elections questioned by Washington, which then recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the only legitimate authority, and imposed a battery of sanctions to force Maduro out. .

The measures include an embargo in force since April 2019 that prevents Venezuela from trading its crude oil – which represented 96 percent of the country’s income – in the US market.

According to the Times, the current visit to Caracas by high-ranking officials from the State Department and the White House responds to Washington’s supposed interest in replacing part of the oil it currently buys from Russia with the one it stopped buying from Venezuela.

At the moment it is unknown what was the result of the talks with the Maduro government.

The unexpected visit comes after a months-long effort by intermediaries — US lobbyists, Norwegian diplomats and oil company executives — who called on President Joe Biden to reassess Trump’s campaign. maximum pressure against Maduro that he inherited from the government of Donald Trump.

US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, last week began expressing support for the idea of ​​banning oil and natural gas imports from Russia as the next move to sanction Putin for the invasion.

The US delegation was led by Juan González, director of the Western Hemisphere for the National Security Council, revealed two officials informed of the visit and who asked to remain anonymous. González was accompanied by James Story, who was the US ambassador in Caracas when the Trump administration recognized Guaidó as the legitimate president of the country.

But it was the presence of another State Department official, Roger Carstens, the presidential envoy for hostage affairs, that raised hopes that Maduro might be willing to release American prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the Biden administration.

The Biden administration has for some time been considering easing sanctions against Venezuela in exchange for a commitment from Maduro to return to a dialogue with the opposition, which was interrupted last year when Alex Saab, an ally of the Venezuelan government, was extradited to the United States on corruption charges, according to a US official who asked to remain anonymous.

One alternative is to allow Chevron, the last remaining US oil company in Venezuela, to increase production or resume exports to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico area capable of processing the thick Venezuelan crude, the official said prior to diplomatic efforts. of the weekend. Under US sanctions, Chevron cannot carry out activities in Venezuela except for basic well maintenance that it operates in conjunction with PDVSA, the Venezuelan oil company.

Maduro has given no indication that he is willing to abandon Putin at this time. He spoke to him on the phone last week in a show of support.