US President Donald Trump has cancelled the oil production concessions granted to Venezuela under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
In a social media post Wednesday, Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government has not improved areas such as election reform and immigration enforcement.
“We are reversing the concessions Joe Biden gave to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro in the oil trading agreement dated November 26, 2022, and it also relates to the election conditions within Venezuela, where the Maduro administration is not being met.”
In 2022, the Biden administration issued a license to American energy giant Chevron to expand production in oil-rich Venezuela.
At the time, the US was taking careful measures to reduce tensions with the Maduro government.
Then, in October 2023, officials from the Maduro administration signed a pair of deals called the Barbados Agreement, confirming their commitment to free and fair elections under the observation of international election experts.
The US responded to its commitment by further easing oil sanctions on Venezuela’s economy.
However, led by Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, the Maduro government has stepped up its repressive actions targeting the country’s political opposition.
For example, political rivals banned running, such as Maria Corina Machado and Corina Yoris, professors who tried to replace Machado in the race.
Still, pre-election polls found opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez was on track to be the best Maduro in the ballot box. However, shortly after the vote on July 28, the country’s election officials announced that Maduro had won without providing the usual breakdown of the vote count.
The breakdown of that tradition encouraged widespread claims that Maduro had falsely claimed victory. Still, on January 10th, Maduro took office for the third period.
Trump himself was launched in his second term at the White House a few days later, on January 20th. However, political observers questioned whether Trump’s inauguration committee would spell out another approach to Venezuela.
During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump exposed Venezuela to a campaign of devastating sanctions and “maximum pressure.” He even placed $15 million in compensation for information that led to Maduro’s arrest.
However, during his second campaign of office, Trump pursued a platform that included “massive deportation.” This is a proposal that calls for the country to try to regain immigration.
Earlier this month, Trump said Venezuela and the United States had reached an agreement to strengthen cooperation on immigration enforcement, allowing the United States to send several Venezuelans back to their home countries.
Deportation to a person’s country of origin requires something that Venezuela had not been previously recognized, the approval of the authorities of the country in which they are being returned.
Rights groups criticized efforts to send people back to Venezuela. There, you could face persecution by the government, especially if you flee the country after abandoning your troops.
The Trump administration also tried to store Venezuelan immigrants in Guantanamo Bay. This is a military base best known for its status as a detention and torture centre used to hold suspected combatants during the so-called war against terrorism.
The government explains that Venezuelans were detained as gang members and dangerous criminals, but many have no serious criminal history, except for immigration-related accusations.
Several members of Trump’s current foreign policy team have a long history of Hawkish’s statements about Venezuela. Some have even made clear ambitions to replace the Maduro government with our interests more friendly.
On Wednesday, for example, Secretary of State Marco Rubio interviewed Fox News, where he called Maduro a “terrifying dictator.”
When asked if Maduro would request that the presidency be vacated, Rubio was vague.
“Why do we want to be there for such a person?” Rubio asked. “We don’t intend to publicly discuss what our work will be like in that respect, but he remains the same threat he was two, three, and four years ago. That’s going to have to be addressed.”
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