The Biden government is considering easing sanctions in Venezuela so that the country can start producing more oil and selling it on the international market, according to a person with direct knowledge of the issue, who spoke to CNN.
The move would be aimed at reducing global dependence on Russian oil amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and isolating Russia from one of its key allies in South America.
Biden government officials, including the director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere, Juan Gonzalez, and the US special envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, were sent to Caracas over the weekend. and to discuss the American citizens currently being held in the country. The New York Times first reported on the officials’ trip to Venezuela.
Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil in 2019 and closed its embassy in Caracas after considering the election victory of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 a fraud.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sunday that the United States and its allies are actively exploring ways to ban Russian oil imports, further damaging the Russian economy. The West has so far been reluctant to impose significant sanctions on Russia’s energy sector over how it could affect the world economy, but is now close to doing so as Europe works to diversify its energy sources.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has already criticized the debate, writing on Twitter at the weekend: “Instead of producing more American oil,” Biden “wants to replace the oil we buy from a murderous dictator with another oil tycoon.”
However, a source familiar with the talks said that a simple increase in US oil production would not make up for the amount lost by cutting Russia.
Source: Capital
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