WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration is prepared to provide Venezuela sanctions relief if the country moves to restore democracy, including free elections next year, the White House said on Wednesday.
“Should Venezuela take concrete actions toward restoring democracy, leading to free and fair elections, we are prepared to provide corresponding sanctions relief,” a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said.
The administration has been working for years to bring President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition to talks on fair elections. Maduro was re-elected in 2018, a vote which the U.S. and other countries have considered a sham.
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, reaffirmed on Aug. 10 that Washington was willing to alleviate sanctions in Venezuela should it take steps toward fair elections.
The U.S. imposed tough sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in 2019 and the Biden administration has taken an initial step to ease them. In November, the administration granted a license to Chevron to export oil to the U.S.
Venezuela has not yet taken the necessary steps toward democracy for corresponding sanctions relief, the NSC spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Diane Craft and Marguerita Choy)
