United States sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas and gold sectors are to be eased after the South American state’s government and opposition agreed to international monitoring of next year’s election.
The deal between the Venezuelan government and opposition was signed in Barbados on Tuesday. According to the BBC, the agreement contains 12 points, which include promises to give all candidates access to public and private media, and to guarantee their free and safe movement throughout the country.
Washington warned that the relaxation of sanctions could be reversed if the electoral pact collapsed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that Venezuela must ‘define a specific timeline and process for the expedited reinstatement of all candidates’ by the end of November.
‘All who want to run for president should be allowed the opportunity,’ he said, while calling for the release of ‘all wrongfully detained US nationals and Venezuelan political prisoners’.
The next election in Venezuela has been scheduled for the second half of next year.
The BBC reports that Donald Trump’s administration imposed harsh sanctions on Venezuela to punish President Nicolás Maduro’s government following his 2018 re-election, which the US has described as ‘illegitimate’.
It says the engagement between the two countries has improved under President Joe Biden.
According to the BBC, the US has a vested interest in addressing the crisis in Venezuela, as the dire state of the economy in the Andean country has driven more than seven million Venezuelans to emigrate, with many heading to the US.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. A scaling back of US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry would benefit both countries economically.