US officials met secretly this Saturday in Caracas with their Venezuelan counterparts to discuss a review of the sanctions against the Caribbean country and the resumption of oil exports to the US. The meeting, advanced by the British agency Reuters and the newspaper New York Timesis part of a double strategy of the Joe Biden Administration to contain fuel prices while reducing Russian influence in the region.
Sources from both media speak of a high-level meeting that could even have been held with the presence of Nicolás Maduro and his vice president Delcy Rodríguez, on the Venezuelan side. On the US side, the names of Juan González – White House adviser for Latin America – and Ambassador James Story are being considered, but both parties have declined to offer information for the time being.
The result of the meeting was not satisfactory, according to the sources of both media, since the two parties raised demands for maximums. The intention, indicate five diplomats consulted by Reuters, is to separate Maduro from Putin after the invasion of Ukraine and further isolate him while reducing Russia’s growing influence in the region.
The Venezuelan is the leader who has most emphatically defended his Russian ally and, although he is not the only one in the region… he has raised his voice more loudly
The Venezuelan is the leader who has most emphatically defended his Russian ally and, although he is not the only one in the region –Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador and Brazil have also taken sides in favor of Moscow with more or less intensity–, yes. he has raised his voice more loudly, as is his wont.
The White House’s idea is to have alternatives to Russian crude and resume imports from Venezuela after easing sanctions against that country. At the moment, much of Venezuela’s oil is purchased by China, Russia and Iran.
According to Reuters, the easing of oil sanctions could begin with the issuance of authorizations to companies such as the US Chevron Corp, the Indian ONGC and the European Eni, Repsol and Maurel & Prom to market shipments of Venezuelan oil.
Since President Donald Trump increased sanctions on Venezuela in 2017, Caracas has had to resort to ways to circumvent them. In recent days, Venezuela has asked Russia to unfreeze oil revenues in several Russian banks blacklisted by the United States, according to Reuters, where state oil company PDVSA and the Defense Ministry have bank accounts.
The US offered to facilitate financial transactions and payments between banks around the world, to move your money to other accounts
Washington would have asked for guarantees of free elections and major reforms of the Venezuelan oil industry to facilitate production and export by foreign firms, in addition to a public condemnation of Russia by Venezuela.
The US offered to facilitate financial transactions and payments between banks around the world, to move their money to other accounts, one of the sources said.
In return, Caracas negotiates the release of US citizens and dual nationals detained in Venezuela, including the businessmen of Citgo, the oil subsidiary company in the United States.
The parties would have summoned to continue negotiating in a new meeting since the positions are very far apart at the moment, the agency maintains.
Cuban-born senator Marco Rubio has denounced the “secret” nature of these meetings and maintains that they are “an excuse for former pro-left Obama employees who wanted to get closer to Maduro and Cuba.” In his tweet, the Republican senator for Florida adds that “Venezuela’s oil industry is a disaster that produces barely 10% of what Russia exports.” Ukraine is just an excuse for pro-left former Obama employees who wanted to get closer to Maduro and Cuba.”
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