(Washington) The United States announced Tuesday a limited relief of some sanctions against Venezuela, saying it wanted to promote a resumption of dialogue between President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition supported by Washington.
Posted at 1:49 p.m.
This decision is “linked to an agreement between the two camps to resume negotiations” in Mexico City to find a way out of the Venezuelan political crisis, “which they should announce very soon”, a senior American official told reporters.
He said it had been taken “at the request of the Venezuelan transitional government” of opponent Juan Guaidó, recognized by the United States as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
In detail, this “sanctions relief” concerns above all a “limited waiver” granted to the American oil group Chevron as part of the oil embargo imposed by Washington in Caracas in 2019 in the hope of ousting Nicolas Maduro from power.
Chevron will be able to “negotiate the terms of potential future activities in Venezuela”, without however being able to conclude a new agreement with the Venezuelan national company PDVSA, explained this senior official.
The US Treasury is due to announce another “measure” later in the day, he added.
“None of these pressure-relieving measures will lead to an increase in regime revenue,” he said.
This decision comes the day after the lifting of certain American restrictions with regard to Cuba, another adversary of the United States on the American continent. It is also announced before the Summit of the Americas organized by US President Joe Biden in June in Los Angeles, which Mexico threatens to boycott if Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are excluded.