Maduro Aiming for Third Consecutive Presidential Term in July
"Ignoring Election Procedures Based on Fair Competition"
Oil Sales License Not Extended for 6 Months
The United States has decided to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas exports. This decision comes from the judgment that the government of Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking long-term rule in the upcoming Venezuelan presidential election in July, has undermined the promised fairness of the election.
On the 17th (local time), the U.S. Department of State issued a statement saying, "After closely reviewing the current situation in Venezuela, we have concluded that the Venezuelan ruling party has not faithfully implemented the democratic election roadmap agreed upon with the opposition," and announced, "We have decided not to extend the six-month temporary license for the sale of Venezuelan oil and gas."
U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, which began in 2005, peaked during the Republican administration in 2016. At that time, the Trump administration did not recognize President Maduro, who took office in 2018, citing election fraud, and from 2019 restricted exports of Venezuelan crude oil. Subsequently, the Biden administration, which took office at the White House, eased sanctions last October by granting a six-month license allowing transactions of Venezuelan oil, gas, and gold after the Maduro regime agreed with the opposition to hold presidential elections through democratic procedures.
However, the Maduro regime began focused efforts to disqualify Maria Corina Machado, a leading opposition presidential candidate and former Speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly. The local Supreme Court, packed with Maduro's allies, revoked Machado's eligibility to run for public office in December last year, citing past misconduct. The person nominated as Machado's successor even faced an incident where online candidate registration was blocked. Currently, the Venezuelan 'Democratic Opposition Union' (PUD) has provisionally registered Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as its candidate.
In response to the Venezuelan Supreme Court's decision, the U.S. Department of State at the time condemned it, stating, "This is inconsistent with the Maduro government's promise to hold a competitive election." State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said in a statement that day, "We are concerned that forces led by Maduro are preventing the democratic opposition from registering their preferred candidates, harassing and intimidating political opponents, and unjustly detaining numerous political actors and civil society members," and criticized, "We again call for their immediate release and for all candidates and parties to be allowed to participate in the electoral process."
The Venezuelan government responded to the U.S. sanctions decision by stating it would "minimize the impact on the economy." According to a Washington Post report, Maduro declared on national broadcast on the 15th, "The United States has not fulfilled its promise to lift all sanctions," and said, "We are not a colony, and whether we have a license or not, we will continue moving forward."
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