Reactions inside the US for possible lifting of sanctions in Venezuela

The Biden administration’s interest in regaining access to Venezuela’s oil has provoked strong reactions within the country, amid concerns that it will support an authoritarian regime that is a close ally of Russia, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

Reactions have come from both Republicans and many prominent Democrats, as well as the US-backed Venezuelan opposition, which recently warned officials in Washington that it was wrong to consider turning Caracas back into an energy bloc. to restore democracy there first.

“The democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people, as well as the determination and courage of the Ukrainian people, are worth far more than a few thousand barrels of oil,” Sen. Bob Menendez, a key ally of President Bain, said in a statement earlier this week. who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Bilateral opposition to Venezuela’s oil exploitation brings to the fore Biden’s political minefield as he seeks alternative sources of oil for the United States during the Russia-Ukraine war, which prompted the White House to ban Russian oil and gas. led to a spike in prices.

The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry in 2019, shortly after President Nicolas Maduro won re-election in a vote widely seen as a sham. The sanctions have hit Venezuela’s already troubled oil industry, which says it has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, but its output has been declining for the past two decades.

Last weekend, senior US officials met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, on the first visit by a White House official to Venezuela since 1999, when Hugo Chavez took office. The delegation included Juan Gonzalez, White House Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Jim Story, Colombia-based ambassador to Venezuela, and Roger Carstens, US special envoy to the United States.

U.S. officials are investigating the idea of ​​easing sanctions to allow U.S. companies to reinvest in Venezuela’s oil sector and help boost the country’s production to about 800,000 barrels a day, say people familiar with the matter. In addition, the White House also sees an opportunity to reduce Russian influence in Venezuela, Russia’s top ally in South America, and to reconsider US policy toward Venezuela, which has failed to oust Maduro. .

Following the meeting with Maduro, US officials telephoned Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guiado to explain Washington’s position, according to a senior Venezuelan opposition official.

Guido, who is recognized by Washington as the country’s interim president, was outraged, according to a person familiar with the matter. In a letter to Biden, he argued that Venezuela was unable to produce enough crude to cut oil prices and that lifting sanctions would reward a dictator responsible for forcing millions of Venezuelans to flee the country.