What could happen with US sanctions against Venezuela after the elections?

( Spanish) — The situation in Venezuela following Sunday’s elections is becoming increasingly complex, as no additional official data on the results are being released and both the government and the opposition claim victory. How could this affect the country in terms of sanctions from the US?

Like several countries in the region, the United States on Monday asked the Venezuelan government to “immediately” publish specific data on the presidential elections, citing concerns about the credibility of President Nicolás Maduro’s victory.

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While officials consulted by declined to give details about the actions that the United States or the international community would be willing to take if Venezuelan authorities do not release the data or if their results are found to be fraudulent, they did not rule out sanctions.

An official told that they would begin having discussions in forums such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the G7 on the “collective way forward.”

“We will continue to assess our sanctions policy toward Venezuela in light of broader U.S. national foreign policy interests, the actions Maduro and his representatives take or fail to take, and the overall direction of travel as it relates to our broader U.S. bilateral policy on engagement with Venezuela,” another official said.

Both defended the sanctions relief granted under the Biden administration, suggesting that Sunday’s election would not have taken place as it did without that relief.

Venezuela has been facing a severe economic crisis for several years. Maduro has attributed the recession to foreign sanctions against his regime, saying that Venezuela is the victim of an “economic war.”

What US sanctions does Venezuela have and which ones have been lifted?

In April this year, the US government reinstated sanctions against Venezuela’s oil and gas sector. These sanctions had been suspended since October 2023 thanks to the so-called license 44, which the US granted at the time. However, Washington decided not to extend this license due to concerns related to democracy in Venezuela.

In August 2017, the US administration under then-President Donald Trump imposed sectoral sanctions that prohibited US banks from buying new bonds from the Venezuelan government and its state-owned oil company PDVSA. The order also limited transactions in existing bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector.

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In January 2019, the measures reached the Venezuelan oil sector after Washington recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela, after the United States, the European Union and the countries of the region gathered in the Lima Group rejected the legitimacy of the Venezuelan presidential elections of December 2018.

In late January 2019, then-US National Security Advisor John Bolton and then-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin formally announced sanctions against PDVSA, whereby any purchase of Venezuelan oil by US entities would result in all money being deposited into blocked accounts.

In October 2023, the US Treasury Department announced the suspension of some trade sanctions against Venezuela, including oil companies, after the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition reached an agreement in Barbados to hold free and fair elections in 2024. This became known as License 44 and allowed most US oil companies to do business in Venezuela. It also authorized PDVSA to sell its oil in the United States and use its financial system to pay creditors and collect debts.

On April 17, 2024, license 44 expired and sanctions were reinstated, but license 41, granted in November 2022, was left in force, allowing Chevron to export Venezuelan crude oil through a partnership with Petróleos de Venezuela.

–With reporting by Gonzalo Zegarra, Osmary Hernandez, Michael Rios, Jennifer Hansler, Stefano Pozzebon, Mary Triny Mena, Ivana Kottasova, Jessie Yeung and Jose Alvarez.

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