Biden administration negotiates with dictator Nicolás Maduro to lift sanctions

Joe Biden's government continues its soft stance on Nicolás Maduro's dictatorship. Former President Donald Trump promoted a series of sanctions against officials who violated human rights in Venezuela in order to promote freedom in that country, but the Biden administration is now in talks with the Chavista regime to lift some of those measures. The information was published by Bloomberg, who spoke exclusively with several sources.

"The preliminary discussions involve senior officials from both nations, including Venezuela’s head of congress Jorge Rodríguez, according to people familiar with the process, who asked not to be identified," Bloomberg reported.

The proposal by the Democratic government is based on lifting some or all of the sanctions as an incentive for Maduro to release political prisoners and call for free elections. "If a deal is reached, the US would grant a license to lift some or all of Venezuela’s sanctions temporarily," Bloomberg noted.

"Should Venezuela take concrete actions toward restoring democracy, leading to free and fair elections, we are prepared to provide corresponding sanctions relief," Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said in a written response to questions posed by Bloomberg.

But the Venezuelan regime has been clear that it will not stop violating human rights and persecuting dissent. In recent days, the attack on opposition leaders has increased. For example, María Corina Machado, the opposition candidate who leads most polls in the country, has suffered assaults and threats from government officials. Some leaders of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela have asked their followers to physically assault her, and on several occasions this has materialized in beatings received by Machado and her team. In addition, Machado has been banned by the regime from participating in elections for 15 years.

Another indication that the dictatorship has no intention of changing its repressive policies against Venezuelans is that a new National Electoral Council is expected to be appointed to carry out the upcoming elections. However, the electoral body is still under the control of Chavista leader Elvis Amoroso, the one responsible for barring Machado.

The Biden administration's intention to lift sanctions is not recent. Juan González announced a few weeks ago that sanctions against officials who violate human rights "will not change the status quo."

"What we're trying to create here is incentives for them to take a different route; But the window is one that is going to close eventually. And it would be unfortunate because last year – around one million Venezuelans – left that country because of the political, economic and security situations," González said in an interview with Voice of America.