The United States decided not to renew license giving temporary permit to U.S. companies for oil and gas production in Venezuela after reviewing the current situation in that Latin American country.
According to the U.S. State Department, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his representatives have not fully met the commitments made under the electoral roadmap agreement, which was signed by Maduro representatives and the opposition in Barbados in October 2023.
General License 44 will expire on Thursday, it said in a statement.
General License 44 temporarily authorizes transactions that are related to oil and gas sector operations in Venezuela, including financial transactions with certain blocked Venezuelan banks.
The State Department said despite delivering on some of the commitments made under the Barbados electoral roadmap, the U.S. Government is concerned that Maduro and his representatives prevented the democratic opposition from registering the candidate of their choice for the upcoming Presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on July 28.
It also alleges that the Mduro regime harassed and intimidated political opponents, and unjustly detained many politicians and members of civil society.
Washington urged Maduro to allow all candidates and parties to participate in the electoral process and release all political prisoners without restrictions or delay.
In order to implement an orderly process following the expiration of General License 44, the United States will issue a 45-day wind-down license. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also will consider requests for specific licenses to continue activities beyond the end of the wind-down period on a case-by-case basis.
The U.S Treasury Department issued General License 44 in October last year to encourage the Maduro regime to fully implement an agreement it reached with the opposition Unitary Platform in Barbados that would allow all opposition candidates to run for president.
On October 18, 2023, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had issued multiple general licenses that suspend some sanctions, including those relating to oil and gas transactions with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.
Opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado is banned from holding office for alleged financial misconduct.
Most of the West, including the U.S. and the European Union, has rejected the disqualification of Machado.
President Nicolas Maduro won a landslide victory in the 2018 election, which was widely condemned as unfair and biased. The U.S. Government imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector.
The sanctions were eased after the Maduro government and the opposition reached a consensus last year to hold presidential elections in 2024, monitored by international observers.
Copyright © 2024, RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
