On August 1, the US administration acknowledged the opposition leader’s election victory, but Maduro remains in office.
The Biden administration attempted to convince despot Nicolas Maduro to organize free and fair elections by easing sanctions against his country earlier this year. It was unsuccessful.
Observers of Latin America now argue that it’s time to fully reinstate those restrictions by revoking American oil and gas corporations’ permits to operate in the region.
As Maduro persisted in clamping down on the opposition, notably by disqualifying opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado from contesting, the United States reimposed sanctions on the gold mining sector that had been removed earlier this year under the Barbados Agreement in April.
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Critics claim the government left significant exceptions for American businesses conducting business there, although it did let specific sanctions relief and export permits expire.
The National Electoral Commission of Venezuela declared in July that Maduro had won 51.2% of the vote, besting Machado-backed Edmundo González, the candidate for the Unity Platform. However, the opposition’s precinct-level vote tallies indicate González winning by a sizable majority. On August 1, the U.S. government declared González the victor, but Maduro remains in office.
U.S. officials announced fresh personal sanctions against Maduro and his supporters in September due to human rights violations. Victoria Coates, a former senior counsellor at the Department of Energy under President Trump and deputy national security advisor, told Fox News Digital that “the individual sanctions are meaningless and obviously haven’t changed [Maduro’s] behavior one bit.”
González was accused of terrorism before seeking sanctuary at the Spanish embassy as part of the severe post-election suppression tactics used by the Maduro administration to impose their own interpretation of the election results. González said last week that before being let to apply for asylum in Spain, he was “forced” to recognize Maduro’s victory.
“They’ve done nothing serious to try to challenge the results of the fraudulent election, to support the folks who are trying to get the information out, and then to offer an off-ramp to Maduro.”
Coates said, “Get him out of the country and find out what his terms are.” “Incidentally, a number of Venezuela’s top military officials enjoy frequent trips to Miami. Do you want to take a chance on that?”
“They may see whether they could talk to them about what a change would entail. But they’re just letting the oil pour instead of taking any action.”
According to Andres Martinez-Fernandez, lead Latin America policy adviser at Heritage’s Allison Center for National Security, “the administration is, on the one hand, doing some actions that would make it appear that it is heightening enforcement against the Maduro regime,” he told Fox News Digital.
“But it’s clearly holding off on really restating and fully pressuring the Venezuelan government with sanctions and economic restrictions, particularly when it comes to the oil sector.”
One way to achieve this goal is to increase the access of large oil firms like Chevron to do business with PDVSA, the nation’s state-owned oil company. Following Maduro’s declaration that he was open to holding free and fair elections, Chevron was granted permission to conduct business with the oil-rich state in 2022. The White House does not rule out the prospect of other companies applying for such licenses to take advantage of the nation’s oil-rich reserves.
As soon as Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., chair of the House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, refused to acknowledge the election results showing Maduro losing by two million votes, the oil licenses—which only serve him and his allies—should have been canceled, she told Fox News Digital.
“The failure to make these decisions is sending a clear signal around the world that United States leadership is weak, and you can get away with whatever you want.”
At a panel discussion earlier this month organized by the New York-based Council of the Americas business organization, opposition adviser Rafael de la Cruz stated, “We want them canceled… this is a lifeline to the regime.”
According to him, the American oil firms’ presence in Venezuela helps to “normalize the de facto dictatorship that he is trying to establish there.”
The goal of the sanctions, according to the National Security Council, is to “hold Nicolas Maduro and his representatives accountable for its violent repression and electoral fraud, without harming the everyday Venezuelan people.”
However, detractors contend that the majority of Venezuelans—nearly 80% of them live in poverty—rarely benefit from oil revenues.
Andres Martinez-Fernandez stated, “The regime itself is the primary sanction facing the Venezuelan people.”
“The Venezuelan regime uses its revenue primarily not to support the Venezuelan people, but to ensure its own grasp on power, whether that’s through buying loyalty in the military or sowing discord abroad” he continued.
The senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, told Fox News Digital, “[The sanctions] never should have been lifted; they got scammed.”
It’s debatable why the Biden administration hasn’t pursued enforcement action.
According to Coates, the purpose is “to keep domestic energy prices low before the election.”
According to Martinez-Fernandez, there may be a lot of lobbying going on behind the scenes, and the government might be concerned that if American businesses left the scene, China would be able to move in and establish operations.
“The administration is still hoping beyond reason that there is a path to a sort of negotiated settlement with the regime,” he stated. “Earlier this year and towards the end of last year, the administration removed sanctions and then threatened to reinstate them. And it’s obvious it didn’t have the anticipated results.”
In response, Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne stated, “We remain committed to conducting our business in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, both in the U.S. and the countries where we operate.”
