October's six-month relief of sanctions on trading with the government of Venezuela appears in jeopardy, as conditions for their continuation appear not to have been met.
Bipartisian immigration reform, however, has been supported by increased civil aviation cooperation between Washington and Caracas, while US and European oil companies have been assiduously reviving production in Venezuela's oilfields.
On January 25, Venezuela’s top court closed the path for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to run for president this year, putting the Biden administration in the awkward position of deciding whether to reinstate sanctions it had suspended to support free and fair elections in the Latin American country, Bloomberg reports.
Last October, in response to the signing of an electoral roadmap agreement between Venezuela’s Unitary Platform and representatives of Maduro, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued 4 General Licenses suspending select sanctions. The G/Ls permit limited trading in Oil, Gold and certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds and PdVSA debt and equity.
When announcing the General Licenses, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, “Failure to abide by the terms of this arrangement will lead the United States to reverse steps we have taken." By all measures, the Maduro regime has failed to abide.
January 29 OFAC issued Venezuela-related General License 43A, "Authorizing the Wind Down of Transactions Involving CVG Compania General de Mineria de Venezuela CA," returning sanctions to the state-controlled gold miner, though at presstime no decisions had been announced on the more sensitive and material Oil Sector sanctions.
February 2, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending FAQ 629 and is publishing an updated document, "Frequently Asked Questions Related to the Suspension of Certain U.S. Sanctions with Respect to Venezuela on October 18, 2023."
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