(Washington) The United States announced on Wednesday limited relief from American sanctions imposed against Venezuela in response to the signing the day before of an agreement between the authorities and the opposition to hold a presidential election in 2024 .
“In accordance with US sanctions policy, in response to these democratic developments, the Treasury Department has authorized transactions relating to the Venezuelan gas and oil sector as well as the gold sector,” announced in a press release the Deputy American Secretary of the Treasury, in charge of financial intelligence and terrorism, Brian Nelson.
Concretely, the American government reauthorizes the purchase of Venezuelan gas and oil for a period of six months, which can be renewed if “Venezuela respects the commitments made within the framework of the electoral agreement” as well as concerning detained persons.
For the gold sector, no duration is specified, the Treasury Department justifying its decision by a desire to “reduce gold exchanges on the black market”.
The United States is also allowing new exchanges of Venezuelan debt securities on the secondary market; the ban on the primary market, i.e. debt securities newly issued by the Venezuelan government, however, remains in force.
The reduction of sanctions on Venezuelan oil was eagerly awaited by the markets, which had anticipated this favorable development in recent days, leading to a drop in the price of a barrel despite the war between Israel and Hamas and the risks of escalation in the Middle East. .
The freeze on Venezuelan assets and other sanctions, however, remain in place.
This decision comes after the agreement on Tuesday between the government and the opposition of Venezuela, during negotiations in Barbados, for a presidential election to be held in the second half of 2024, which Washington had already welcomed in a press release.
The opposition has not recognized the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 in a vote widely considered fraudulent and not recognized by many countries.
The following year, Washington strengthened sanctions against Caracas first imposed in 2015 due to the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
In 2019, Washington, as well as part of the international community, recognized Juan Guaidó, leader of the opposition who had just proclaimed himself interim president.
The opposition ended this interim presidency in January, believing that it had not fulfilled its objectives of political change.