Restrictions on Venezuela’s mining industry have been implemented by the United States following the ruling by the country’s highest court in South America that invalidated the candidacy of an opposition candidate for president.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control stated on Monday that any US businesses doing business with Venezuela’s state-owned mining corporation Minerven have until February 13 to finish a “wind down of transactions” with the company.
Over the weekend, the US sent a warning to Venezuela, threatening to revoke some of the sanctions relief that had been granted the previous year when Caracas agreed to a plan for elections in 2024, which included establishing a procedure for potential candidates to contest their disqualification.
The opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was banned for 15 years on Friday by the Venezuelan Supreme Court, which is supportive of President Nicolas Maduro’s administration. The court also affirmed that Henrique Capriles, a two-time presidential candidate, is not eligible to succeed Machado.
Machado vowed to remain in the race on Monday, calling the court decision that barred her from running for president last week “judicial criminality” and saying it represented the ruling party’s dread of having to confront her in the polls.
relief from sanctions
After striking a deal with the opposition in Venezuela last year in Barbados to organize a free and fair election in 2024 with international observers present, Maduro’s regime boosted hopes in Washington and others.
Washington lifted sanctions as a result of the arrangement, opening the door for a prisoner swap and enabling US-based Chevron to resume limited oil output.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, claimed on Monday that the Maduro administration “has not taken those actions” that were promised in Barbados.
