Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 09 2021

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

(File Photo)
US sanctions on Venezuela

to stay in place under Biden

White House official indicates that the Biden administration will make no major changes on this front

FORMER US President Donald Trump made a would not follow Trump’s lead, especially with
point of imposing increasingly strict sanctions respect to the delivery of humanitarian aid.
WHAT: on Venezuela and its oil industry. As a result, Likewise, there have been rumours that Biden’s
Biden is in “no rush” to Trump’s failure to secure re-election in 2020 team might backtrack on the previous adminis-
eliminate sanctions on has given rise to speculation that his successor, tration’s decision to clamp down on swap deals
Caracas, a White House Joe Biden, might soften Washington’s stance that allowed Venezuela to exchange crude oil for
official says. towards Caracas. supplies of fuel.
Rumours to this effect gained some traction Recently, though, the Biden administration
WHY: partly because of the Biden administration’s has given some clear indications that its pol-
Washington believes cur- appointment of Juan Gonzalez as special advi- icy towards Venezuela will not be significantly
rent policy leaves enough sor to the president and senior director for the different from that of its predecessor. It has, for
room for humanitarian Western Hemisphere at the National Security example, stated that it will continue Trump’s pol-
aid shipments. Council (NSC). Gonzalez had written in mid- icy of treating opposition leader Juan Guaido as
2020 that Biden did not want to rely too heav- Venezuela’s legitimate head of state. (Guaido
WHAT NEXT: ily on sanctions as an instrument of policy. In was named interim president in early 2019,
US authorities may have an article published by Americas Quarterly, he shortly after President Nicolas Maduro was
to decide soon whether called for “intelligent sanctions” and said the US declared the winner of an election that has been
to follow Trump’s lead in
going after a wider range should make more multilateral efforts to push widely described as fraudulent. The European
of companies involved in for democratic change in Venezuela. Union and other international groups have now
trading Venezuelan oil. Since then, a number of persons affiliated accepted Maduro’s contention that Guaido lost
with the Biden campaign and the new admin- all claim to control over Venezuela’s parliament
istration have indicated that the new president in elections held last December.)

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