The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Wednesday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued four general licenses suspending select sanctions on Venezuela.
In a statement posted on its website, the treasury outlined that the move comes in response to the signing of an electoral roadmap agreement between Venezuela’s Unitary Platform and representatives of Maduro, and in support of the Venezuelan people.
The suspension of sanctions will continue only if “Venezuela meets its commitments under the electoral roadmap as well as other commitments with respect to those who are wrongfully detained,” said US secretary of state Antony Blinken.
The treasury noted in the statement that it has issued a six-month general license temporarily authorizing transactions involving the oil and gas sector in Venezuela. The license will be renewed only if Venezuela meets its commitments under the electoral roadmap as well as other commitments with respect to those who are wrongfully detained.
The department also revealed that it has issued a second general license authorizing dealings with Minerven, a Venezuelan state-owned gold mining company, and that it has amended two relevant licenses to remove a secondary trading ban on certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds and PdVSA debt and equity. The ban on trading in the primary Venezuelan bond market remains in place.
The treasury assesses that this would have the positive effect of displacing nefarious players in this market, and with negligible financial benefit to the Venezuelan regime.
Other sanctions and restrictions imposed by the United States on Venezuela remain in place.
“The United States welcomes the signing of an electoral roadmap agreement between the Unitary Platform and Maduro representatives,” under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, commented.
“Consistent with U.S. sanctions policy, in response to these democratic developments, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued General Licenses authorizing transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector and gold sector, as well as removing the ban on secondary trading,” Nelson continued.
However, as it is reported by the US secretary of state Antony Blinken, “failure to abide by the terms of this arrangement will lead the United States to reverse steps we have taken.”
