The United States, on Tuesday, announced it will reimpose sanctions on the oil and gas sector of Venezuela, relaxed under a reconciliation deal, after opponents to President Nicolas Maduro were barred from running against him.
The State Department issued a deadline to end a license that allowed U.S. dealings with Venezuela’s key money-making sector, saying Maduro was violating an agreement with the opposition reached in Barbados in October.
“Absent progress between Maduro and his representatives and the opposition Unitary Platform, particularly on allowing all presidential candidates to compete in this year’s election, the United States will not renew the license when it expires on April 18, 2024,” State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said in a statement.
The United States earlier said it was immediately winding down another license that allowed operations by the Venezuelan state-owned gold mining company, Minerven.
Miller said: “The United States remains strongly committed to supporting dialogue between the parties and to the aspirations of the Venezuelan people for a democratic future.
“We will continue to work with the international community and all peaceful democratic actors across the political spectrum in Venezuela and leverage mechanisms at our disposal to encourage a return to the principles in the Barbados agreement.”
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Venezuela’s Supreme Court, loyal to Maduro, on Friday, upheld a 15-year ban on holding public office against the president’s main opponent in elections due this year, Maria Corina Machado.
The court, according to AFP, also confirmed the ineligibility of a possible opposition stand-in – two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
The United States is a longtime foe of the leftist Maduro, who has presided over a crumbling economy that has sent millions fleeing Venezuela.
In early 2019, the United States under former President Donald Trump declared Maduro to be illegitimate after concerns about a previous election, with most Western and Latin American countries switching recognition to then opposition leader, Juan Guaido.
But years of sanctions and other pressure failed to dislodge Maduro, who enjoys support from a political patronage system, the military, and Cuba, Russia, and China.
Maduro last week made claims of plans to assassinate him and said that the Barbados agreements are “mortally wounded”.
In Washington, the Republican Party has denounced Biden over Venezuela but even members of the president’s Democratic Party have called on him to tighten the screws on Maduro after the disqualifications.
In a joint statement Monday, three leading Democratic senators – Ben Cardin, Dick Durbin, and Tim Kaine – called on the United States to reimpose sanctions “until a clean election is assured”.
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