By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. is sticking to its threat to “reconsider” steps taken in October to ease sanctions on OPEC member Venezuela if President Nicolas Maduro fails to comply with certain commitments by Thursday’s deadline, a State Department spokesperson said.
The “snapback” of partially lifted U.S. sanctions would mark a major shift from President Joe Biden’s new approach toward Venezuela, which was announced in response to Maduro’s government and the country’s opposition agreeing to hold a 2024 election.
The Biden administration reiterated that it has told the Venezuelan government it must, by the end of November, lay out steps for lifting election bans on opposition candidates and begin releasing Venezuelan political prisoners and “wrongfully detained” Americans, the spokesperson said.
In the most significant lifting of harsh Trump-era sanctions, Washington issued a six-month general license authorizing U.S. transactions with Venezuela’s vital oil and gas sector and a second general license authorizing operations of state gold company Minerven, and it also removed a U.S. prohibition on secondary-market trading of Venezuelan sovereign bonds.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had vowed to “reverse” those steps if Maduro did not provide a timeline and process for reinstating all banned candidates and “begin the release of all wrongfully detained U.S. nationals and Venezuelan political prisoners” by November’s close.
The State Department spokesperson did not use the term “reverse” but instead said: “If Maduro and his representatives fail to follow through on these steps, we will reconsider the steps we have taken to ease some sanctions.” A U.S. official said this did not signify a “change in policy.”
The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jorge Rodriguez, head of Maduro’s delegation in the political dialogue with the opposition, said in mid-November the government “does not accept ultimatums from anyone.”
If the U.S. deems Maduro’s actions insufficient, it was not immediately clear how extensively or quickly it would roll back sanctions relief.
“We haven’t seen any progress yet,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters earlier on Thursday when asked whether Maduro was meeting his commitments and if the U.S. was prepared to reimpose sanctions. “We’ll see what the Venezuelans decide to do.”
The Venezuelan government may allow appeals from banned politicians to progress in court as a way to partially comply with U.S. demands, sources told Reuters this week.
The winner of the opposition’s presidential primary, Maria Corina Machado, is among those barred from office.
The Venezuelan government released five political prisoners in October but there have been no releases since.
(This story has been refiled to add the dropped phrase ‘to comply with’ in paragraph 1)
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick, additional reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Editing by Chris Reese and Josie Kao)
