The power and the opposition of Venezuela signed Saturday, November 26, in Mexico City, a “partial agreement” which immediately resulted in an easing of American oil sanctions against the regime in Caracas. This dialog represents “a hope for all of Latin America” and “the triumph of politics”, greeted the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard. The talks had been interrupted for fifteen months.
Representatives of Caracas and the Venezuelan opposition have reached a stage agreement “in terms of social protection”which will make it possible in particular to release Venezuelan resources blocked abroad in order to finance social projects.
Economic crisis
The opposition continues to demand solutions to the “humanitarian crisis”, “respect for human rights” and warranties for “free and observable elections”, underlined Thursday in a press release the Unitary Platform. There is no consensus on these elections, which should take place in 2024, according to a source familiar with the matter consulted Thursday by Agence France-Presse. The opposition accuses Mr Maduro of being re-elected in 2018 fraudulently.
Poverty affects eight out of ten people in Venezuela, according to the national Encovi survey on living conditions published earlier this month. Seven million Venezuelans have left their country due to the political and economic crisis, especially since the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013.
The dialogue opened in August 2021 in Mexico City, after attempts that fizzled out in 2018 and 2019. Nicolas Maduro suspended the talks two months later, after the extradition to the United States of Alex Saab, a man Venezuelan businessman close to power prosecuted for money laundering.
Compensate for Russian oil
As a result of the “partial agreement”, the US Treasury Department in a statement authorized oil giant Chevron to partially resume its oil extraction activities in the country, reviving its joint venture held in partnership with the public company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA).
In May, Washington had already allowed Chevron to “negotiate the terms of potential future activities in Venezuela”which represented a first breach of the Venezuelan oil embargo imposed by Washington in 2019 in the hope of ousting Nicolas Maduro and his socialist regime.
The United States is seeking new hydrocarbon resources to offset the loss of Russian crude as a result of sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine. However, Venezuela would have oil reserves among the largest in the world, according to experts.
