It was at the restart of the dialogue in Mexico. Washington immediately allowed the Chevron oil company to return to operating in the Caribbean country.
The government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition signed this Saturday in the capital of Mexico an agreement providing for the creation of a fundwhich will be managed by the United Nations, to address the complex social crisis in Venezuela within the framework of the reactivation of the dialogues.
At the same time, the United States government announced that authorizes the oil company Chevron to resume operations limited ways of extracting natural resources in Venezuela.
This measure, according to the Treasury Department, reflects the long-term policy of the United States “to provide targeted sanctions relief based on concrete steps that reduce the suffering of the Venezuelan people and support the restoration of democracy.”
The Treasury Department specified that this authorization prevents the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from receiving profits from Chevron’s oil sales and allows activity related to Chevron’s joint ventures in Venezuela only, not other activities with PDVSA.
“Other sanctions and restrictions related to Venezuela imposed by the United States remain in force“, clarified his statement, according to which the country “will vigorously enforce these sanctions and will continue to hold accountable any actor who participates in acts of corruption, violates US laws or abuses human rights in Venezuela.”
The US Executive had made any decision on Chevron conditional on the parties returning to the negotiating table and promoting other specific commitments in support of the Venezuelan population.
Venezuela is under US and European sanctions, which seek to promote Maduro’s removal from power, but at the same time aggravate the economic crisis that hits the country without achieving the desired results.
Talks resumed in May with an easing of some US sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on oil prices.
The US government publicly admitted that Venezuelan oil could be useful in an international market with high prices and a context of strong inflation in the United States due, to a large extent, to the increase in gasoline prices.
The political negotiation table between the Nicolás Maduro regime and the opposition, formally suspended since October 2021 by government decision, was set up again this Saturday in Mexico City.
social background
There the Second Partial Agreement for the Protection of the Venezuelan People was signed, whose main objective is the recovery of State resources of the Caribbean country blocked in the international financial system.
The terms of the partial agreement were announced by the head of the Norwegian facilitation team, Dag Nylander, who stated that the agreement will make it possible to achieve important advances for the protection of Venezuelans.
During an act in a hotel in the center of Mexico City, Nylander reported that This social fund will be financed with frozen resources of the Venezuelan State in the international financial system.l, which will be used to support health, food and education programs for the poor sectors, which have been badly hit by the crisis; improve the deteriorated public electrical system and assist families affected by the heavy rains that occurred in the second half of that year.
The facilitator specified that the United Nations will support the implementation of the agreement and that a group of observers will be created, with representatives of both parties, who will monitor the projects.
in the deal The amount that the fund will handle was not mentioned.but it is expected to reach 3,000 million dollars.
After thirteen months of suspension of the talks, the government and the opposition seek to promote the process with this social agreement, which was advanced in recent months with the mediation of Norway.
The formation of the social fund is part of a wide agenda of discussions which is expected to be deepened in December, which will include the lifting of economic sanctions, the definition of the conditions for the 2024 presidential elections, the release of political prisoners and the removal of political disqualifications.
Source: agencies
