Biden Administration Reinstates Sanctions on Venezuelan Oil

The Biden administration is reimposing sanctions on Venezuelan oil, it announced Wednesday.

Officials said Venezuela has not made enough progress toward free and fair elections and, as a result, the administration is reimposing sanctions that were lifted in October.

Companies will have 45 days to close their transactions with the country’s oil and gas sector.

Sanctions were lifted in October after Venezuela agreed to certain electoral reforms. Officials said that while there have been some positive developments, the country has not gone far enough.

Specifically, they criticized Nicolás Maduro’s government for blocking the main opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, and her designated replacement, Corina Yoris.

In 2019, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on the Venezuelan state oil company as part of an attempt to pressure Maduro to relinquish power.

Maduro was last re-elected in 2018, in a race that the US described as a sham.

Amid US moves to ease sanctions under the Biden administration, including the October decision, Venezuela’s oil exports have grown. Last year, they rose 12 percent, Reuters reported.

U.S. officials said that while the imposition of sanctions will no longer allow companies to operate in Venezuela generally, the Treasury Department will continue to consider licenses that allow specific companies to operate there on a case-by-case basis.

The sanctions reimposed on Wednesday are separate from a 2022 authorization that Chevron enabled resume some operations in Venezuela — the 2022 authorization is not expected to be impacted.

Elections in Venezuela are scheduled for July.

Republicans, many of whom opposed decisions to lift sanctions last year, called on Biden to reinstate them.

“History has proven time and time again that appeasing dictators doesn’t work. We strongly urge you to reinstate and fully enforce all U.S. sanctions on the Maduro regime,” seven Republican senators said in a statement. letter to Biden last week.