US reimposing some Venezuela sanctions after opposition candidate ban

The U.S. government will pull back on some of its sanctions relief for Venezuela after the country’s highest court upheld a ban on the leading opposition presidential candidate, the State Department announced Tuesday.

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his administration’s recent actions, including the arrest of members of the democratic opposition and the disqualification of presidential competitors, are “inconsistent” with the election reforms agreement signed in Barbados last October by Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition, known as the Unitary Platform, the State Department said in a statement.

The Biden administration eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold in exchange for the South American country agreeing to reforms, including allowing international observers to monitor elections. The U.S. at the time said the agreement is the most feasible way to restore democracy and competitive elections in Venezuela.

The October agreement sparked pushback at the time from energy and foreign policy hawks, who expressed doubts over the fairness of Venezuela’s upcoming elections.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday said without further “progress” between Maduro and the Unitary Platform the U.S. will not renew General License 44, which has provided relief to the Venezuelan oil and gas sector, when it expires on April 18, 2024.

The U.S. will also revoke General License 43, which allowed transactions with Minerven, the Venezuelan state-owned gold mining company, Miller said. U.S. companies have until Feb. 13 to wind down any transactions previously allowed by that license, he added.

The decision comes days after Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice — the nation’s highest court — upheld a ban last Friday on the candidacy of Maria Corina Machado, a longtime adversary of the government and winner of the Unitary Platform’s primary nomination, The Associated Press reported.

Machado won the presidential primary with over 90 percent of the votes despite the government announcing a 15-year ban on her running for office after she officially entered the race in June, the news wire added. She was able to participate in the primary as it was organized by a commission independent of Venezuelan electoral officials.

Machado on Monday said the court ruling is ““judicial criminality” and pledged to remain in the race, the AP added.

“If they believe that they declared my disqualification, then let them know well, they declared the end of this tyranny … because people are clear and are not going to allow themselves to be stripped of their Oct. 22 decision,” Machado said.

“The United States remains strongly committed to supporting dialogue between the parties and to the aspirations of the Venezuelan people for a democratic future,” Miller wrote.

“We will continue to work with the international community and all peaceful democratic actors across the political spectrum in Venezuela and leverage mechanisms at our disposal to encourage a return to the principles in the Barbados agreement,” he added.