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The Biden administration is planning to ease the sanctions imposed by the United States against the socialist dictatorship of Venezuela and allow the oil company Chevron to resume the extraction of Venezuelan oil. In exchange, dictator Nicolás Maduro must initiate a round of negotiations with the opposition.
According to exclusive information from the Wall Street Journal, President Biden would have given in on some of the sanctions against the country as a way to influence the search for conditions for “free” and “fair” elections in the Latin American country, subjected to a socialist dictatorship for more than 20 years.
As part of negotiations between the United States, the Maduro dictatorship, and the Venezuelan opposition, the Biden administration has reportedly offered to release hundreds of millions of dollars in Venezuelan state funds frozen in U.S. banks to pay for imports of food, medicine and equipment for the country’s electrical grid and municipal water systems.
Democratic administration officials, however, warn that the deal will depend on the good faith of Maduro’s advisors in negotiations with the opposition and may not come to fruition.
On the other hand, opposition leader Juan Guaidó, asked the United States for details regarding the license request granted to Chevron to operate in Venezuela.
Negotiations between Biden and Venezuela
This year, Chevron reached a preliminary technical service agreement with PDVSA to renew its business and allow the American oil company a greater share of operations, trading and profits, with the goal of expanding oil production.
Chevron’s current license to operate in Venezuela expires in December of this year, but no decision can be final without the approval of the American government and the permission of the Maduro dictatorship.
If the deal goes through and Chevron and other American oil companies are allowed to return to work in Venezuela, it would only serve to supply the world oil market in a limited way in the short term, given that corruption, lack of investment and mismanagement of the Venezuelan industry have almost completely collapsed domestic production.
The mere existence of a pre-agreement between Venezuela and the United States is a sign that the Biden administration is willing to make controversial deals to replace Russian energy supplies, albeit with one of Putin’s biggest allies in the West, except to seek an increase in U.S. production.
The talks between Biden and Maduro have been quiet since March but recently became public after the South American dictatorship released American hostages in exchange for the United States allowing the release of the so-called narcosobrinos, two nephews of Maduro’s wife who had been captured and were convicted of drug trafficking on U.S. soil.
The toughest sanctions against the Venezuelan dictatorship were imposed by the Trump administration in 2019, when the sudden appearance of Juan Guaidó as the new leader of the opposition raised great expectations in the free world and 60 countries recognized him as interim president.
Tomás Lugo, journalist and writer. Born in Venezuela and graduated in Social Communication. Has written for international media outlets. Currently living in Colombia // Tomás Lugo, periodista y articulista. Nacido en Venezuela y graduado en Comunicación Social. Ha escrito para medios internacionales. Actualmente reside en Colombia.