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US reimposes Venezuela oil sanctions over election concerns

  • US concerned by Maduro government crackdown on opponents as election looms
  • Caracas vowed that its oil sector would keep going regardless of US sanctions

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President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro. Photo: Reuters
Reuters

The Biden administration said it would not renew a license set to expire early on Thursday that had broadly eased Venezuela oil sanctions, moving to reimpose punitive measures in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to meet his election commitments.

Just hours before the deadline, the US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it had issued a replacement license giving companies 45 days to “wind down” their business and transactions in the Opec country’s oil and gas sector.

Washington had repeatedly threatened in recent months to reinstate energy sanctions unless Maduro made good on his promises that led to partial US sanctions relief from October, following a US-backed election deal between the government and the Venezuelan opposition.

The sweeping sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry were first imposed by the Trump administration in 2019 following Maduro’s re-election victory, which the US and other Western governments rejected.

Leading opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado has been blocked from running. Photo: AFP
Leading opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado has been blocked from running. Photo: AFP

While Maduro has honoured some commitments under last year’s deal, he has failed to meet others, including allowing the opposition to run the candidate of its choice against him in the July 28 presidential election, senior US officials said.

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