Republicans push Biden to not renew Venezuela energy sector general licence
Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has joined six fellow Republicans in calling on President Biden to not renew General License 44, Authorizing Transactions Related to Oil or Gas Sector Operations in Venezuela when it comes up for renewal on 18 April.
The lawmakers said that sanctions relief should be tied to progress on the agreement signed by President Nicolas Maduro’s government and the opposition in October, calling for free and fair elections this year. However, Maduro’s government, which the US does not recognise, has cracked down on opposition leaders, not allowing top candidates to register.
‘We strongly urge you to reinstate and fully enforce all U.S. sanctions on the Maduro regime relieved as a result of the October 2023 Barbados Agreement,’ wrote the senators, who include Marco Rubio (R-FL) and John Barrasso (R-WY).
In a 16 April press briefing, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in response to a question on the sanctions, ‘We have made very clear that if Maduro and his representatives did not fully implement their agreements under the Barbados Agreement, we would reimpose sanctions, and I would just say stay tuned.’
Asked whether there was concern that reimposing sanctions would ‘exacerbate irregular migration’ from Venezuela, Miller said, ‘Irregular migration is something we continue to work on with our partners in the region, but I don’t want to answer that question in detail because it sort of presumes a policy choice that I’m not ready to announce it at this time.’
https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/venezuela_letter1.pdf
