Biden Administration to Ease Some Economic Sanctions Against Venezuela

The U.S. is moving to ease some economic sanctions against Venezuela in hopes to encourage negotiations between the U.S.-backed opposition and Nicolás Maduro's government, according to the Associated Press.

Several U.S. oil firms had their Venezuelan operations frozen by sanctions first imposed in 2019 to "choke oil exports and deprive Caracas of its main source of revenue in its bid to see the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro," Reuters reports.

However, the small changes to sanctions will allow only Chevron to negotiate on "potential future activity" in the country. "We will alleviate pressure on the basis of those outcomes and in coordination, very closely, with ... the [Venezuela] interim government. We will re-apply sanctions on the basis of any steps backward or regresses in any sort of negotiations," senior administration officials told the AP.