US to reinstate Venezuela sanctions

The US will reimpose sanctions on Venezuela after the South American nation’s top court upheld the disqualification of an opposition presidential aspirant, a senior US official said on Tuesday. 

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would revoke a license that has allowed Venezuela to produce and export crude oil without restrictions since October.

Earlier, the Treasury Department gave US entities until February 13 to end transactions with Venezuelan state-owned mining company Minervén. 

"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, [means] the United States will not renew the license when it expires on April 18, 2024," Miller said in a statement.

On Friday, Venezuela's supreme court confirmed a 15-year ban on running for public office for Maria Corina Machado for alleged corruption and backing sanctions against Caracas. 

The court also ratified the ineligibility of a possible opposition replacement – two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles. 

Machado is the main political rival of President Nicolás Maduro, who has been described by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as a "brutal dictator." In October, Machado received more than 90% of the votes in a primary to decide the opposition's candidate for presidential elections due this year. 

"The United States remains strongly committed to supporting dialogue between the parties and to the aspirations of the Venezuelan people for a democratic future," Miller said.

"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," he added.

OIL SECTOR IMPACT

The White House rolled back a series of restrictions – mostly related to the oil and gas industry – on October 18 after the Maduro regime reached an agreement with opposition parties to allow competitive, internationally monitored elections this year. 

The most significant concession was a general license for oil and gas companies to resume normal operations in the country. 

Venezuela, which sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, has seen crude production plummet over the past two decades as state-owned company PDVSA has been wracked by mismanagement, corruption and crippling sanctions.

Analysts had said the sanctions relief would pave the way for up to 300,000b/d of additional production from Venezuelan oilfields by 2025.

Among the companies to benefit from the move were Chevron, Eni, Maurel & Prom, Repsol and China's CNPC, all of which have stakes in local oil and gas blocks. 

It was not immediately clear how the Biden administration’s latest decision would impact their activities in the short term.  

VENEZUELA RESPONSE

Venezuelan officials said earlier on Tuesday that they were ready for the US to reinstate sanctions, describing Washington's Venezuela policy as "economic aggression." 

"Venezuela is prepared for any circumstance," oil minister Pedro Tellechea told reporters in Caracas. "They will find a powerful industry ready to face any situation."

Vice president Delcy Rodríguez said Venezuela would reject migrant repatriation flights from the US from next month and review other cooperation agreements. 

"If they carry out the false step of intensifying economic aggression against Venezuela, at the request of extremist lackeys in the country, from Feb. 13 the repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants will be immediately revoked," Rodríguez said on social media.