Threat of reimposed US sanctions looms over Venezuela following disputed election results
The United States government has said it has ‘serious concerns’ over the result of the presidential election in Venezuela and will continue to assess its sanctions policy towards Venezuela where incumbent Nicolas Maduro and his political rival both declared victory amid accusations of fraud.
The National Electoral Council loyal to Maduro’s ruling Unites Socialist Party of Venezuela officially declared him the winner of the 28 July vote, but opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez also claimed victory.
‘The Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened,’ González said after Maduro’s win was officially announced, giving his administration – which is not recognised by the United States – a third six-year term.
In Washington, the day after the vote, two unidentified ‘senior officials’ briefed reporters via teleconference about the polling, saying ‘Maduro representatives have stripped the supposed election results they announced of any credibility.’
One official said, ‘We have serious concerns that this result does not reflect the will and the votes of the Venezuelan people.’
Asked if the United States will cancel the individual sanctions licences that it has given to Chevron and other US oil and gas companies the official commented ‘it is not currently under consideration that we would retroactively alter licenses that have been – previously been given.’
That official said that the fact elections were held, and an opposition candidate allowed to run, was due to US sanctions. ‘Now that we are faced with potentially a new scenario, we are going to take that into account as we map forward where we may head with respect to sanctions towards Venezuela,’ the official told reporters.
Meanwhile, three Congressional Republicans from Florida — Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez — sent a letter to the Biden-Harris Administration urging ‘targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for subverting Venezuela’s once democratic’ system.
https://www.state.gov/senior-administration-officials-on-the-venezuela-election
