MIAMI, United States.- The government of President Joe Biden will ease some energy sanctions against Venezuela with the aim of favoring political discussions between President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, led by Juan Guaidó.
According to several media outlets, two senior officials of the US administration announced on Tuesday that some of the sanctions imposed against the Maduro dictatorship by former President Donald Trump will be relaxed, and that “all this responds to a request from the interim government.”
“The United States is taking a series of measures at the request of the interim government of Venezuela and the Unitary Platform of opposition parties negotiating with the Venezuelan regime, to support its decision to return to the negotiating table in Mexico City,” he told journalists a high-ranking US official, according to the newspaper The Republic.
One of the first steps will be to allow Chevron ––the last major US oil company still operating in Venezuela–– to negotiate its license with the state oil company PDVSA to continue its activities in the country.
In this regard, the sources clarified that the decision allows both oil companies to “talk”, but in no case exploit or trade with Venezuelan crude, so it will not mean “any increase in the regime’s income.”
What is the US looking for?
The US officials explained that Washington will continue to adjust its sanctions policy towards Venezuela ––either strengthening or easing them–– “based on ambitious, concrete and irreversible results that empower the Venezuelan people to determine the future of their country through elections. democratic”.
According to a note from the CNN agency, which quoted government sources, the United States has also sought ways to allow Venezuela to start producing more oil and be able to sell it on the international market, thus reducing the world’s energy dependence on Russia. .
However, they clarified, the relief of sanctions in any area will only occur if Maduro continues to hold substantial talks with the opposition.
This announcement is the second major change in US policy towards dictatorial regimes in the region, after it became known on Monday that Biden will relax some of the Trump-era measures against the government in Havana.
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