WSJ: Biden is unlikely to reimpose oil sanctions on Venezuela, despite Maduro's repressive drift

Amid a strong wave of repression against dissent in Venezuela, reports emerge that the Biden administration will have a tough time reimposing the oil sanctions that it lifted from the Nicolás Maduro regime in October 2023.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House is concerned that a potential reimposition of sanctions on Venezuela would encourage more Venezuelans to migrate illegally to the United States, further complicating the migration crisis on the southern border.

Likewise, Biden administration officials doubt that sanctions are appropriate for seeking a democratic transition in the South American country.

“Biden administration officials have said they didn’t think that the oil sanctions—leveled against Venezuela in early 2019 in former President Donald Trump’s effort to force Maduro from power—was constructive,” the WSJ reads.

Washington's relief of sanctions occurred under two agreements signed in Doha and Barbados, where the Maduro regime committed to guaranteeing a free and independent electoral route for the presidential elections in 2024.

According to the WSJ, the agreement signed in Doha caused the Biden administration to sign a six-month license that “expanded an easing of sanctions that since late 2022 had been mostly limited to Chevron, the largest private company with assets in Venezuela.”

However, the Democratic government’s policy towards Maduro’s tyranny has been highly criticized by those who closely follow the Venezuelan situation.

“I said at the time,’ You lift the sanctions now, you take away your own leverage,’” Eric Farnsworth, a former senior State Department diplomat and vice president of the Council of the Americas political group in Washington, told the WSJ. “That is exactly what happened.”

In general, since the Biden administration granted sanctions relief and returned Alex Saab, Nicolás Maduro’s frontman, to Venezuela in a questionable exchange, the Chavista tyranny has notably increased its repression against dissent.

For example, María Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, remains politically disqualified and cannot participate in the electoral process.

Her political group, Vente Venezuela, is suffering the abuses of the Maduro dictatorship, which is persecuting and imprisoning collaborators close to Machado.

Machado’s main collaborators right now are in two places: in the prisons of the regime or as refugees in the Argentine Embassy in Caracas.

Likewise, the substitute candidate chosen by the opposition and Machado herself to participate in the elections on July 28, the 80-year-old academic Corina Yoris, was also blocked from participating for no reason.

Machado’s ban is not coincidental. Last year, the leader of Vente Venezuela won the primaries organized by the opposition with more than 90% of the votes. Furthermore, polls show that Machado or a candidate supported by her would comfortably beat Maduro in a confrontation with electoral guarantees.

However, despite all the outrage, the Biden administration, which has adopted a docile stance in rebuking the Maduro regime, will likely extend the current policy until July 28.

However, the United States’ decision is still controversial, mainly because other countries, a priori allies of Chavismo, have chosen to toughen their language against the Venezuelan dictatorship.

Lula da Silva, Brazilian socialist leader and founder of the Sao Paulo Forum, said it was “serious” that Maduro would not allow Corina Yoris to participate in the July elections.

Lula’s criticism was joined by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who questioned the electoral process in Venezuela in the absence of real guarantees months before the elections are held.

Likewise, the Colombian government of former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, another leftist leader close to Caracas, criticized Maduro for not letting Professor Yoris participate.

In this context, the WSJ revealed that Washington and Caracas are preparing to hold a new meeting in early April in Doha or Mexico City.

The interesting thing is that Juan González, who was the most influential White House advisor on Latin America, will be present at the meeting. This is a striking fact since González departed from the Biden administration in February amid intense criticism of his approach to Maduro’s tyranny.