Trump to Lift Venezuela Oil Export Sanctions Effective March 1

Biden Administration to Revoke Oil Trade Deal
Chevron Must Withdraw by End of July
Maduro Fails to Properly Repatriate Prisoners

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 26th (local time) that he plans to revoke the oil trade agreement made with Venezuela during the previous Joe Biden administration. Venezuela, which holds the largest oil reserves in the world, is expected to face worsening economic difficulties as its financial lifeline dries up again due to U.S. sanctions.

Yonhap News

On the same day, President Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, "I will reverse the November 26, 2022, oil trade concession granted by Biden to Nicol?s Maduro of Venezuela," adding, "The related agreement will terminate as of March 1."

November 26, 2022, was the date when Chevron was granted a license to produce and sell oil in Venezuela despite sanctions against the Nicol?s Maduro government. According to Bloomberg News, with the termination of the agreement, Chevron must withdraw from Venezuela by the end of July. However, President Trump did not directly mention Chevron in his post.

The reason President Trump decided to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela is reportedly due to election manipulation by the Maduro regime. Another factor that upset Trump was the failure to promptly deport criminals illegally residing in the U.S. Earlier, after the July presidential election last year, President Maduro unilaterally declared a third-term victory, but the opposition released data claiming that the Maduro regime manipulated the election results and that the opposition candidate actually won.

President Trump wrote, "We hereby overturn the decision made by Joe Biden regarding the oil trade agreement with Nicol?s Maduro of Venezuela," adding, "This is also related to the election manipulation within Venezuela that the Maduro regime has failed to address."

During his first term, President Trump consistently imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil exports, and when controversy arose in 2019 over Maduro’s re-election through unfair elections, he supported then-Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaid? as interim president.

Amid controversies over election fairness and international criticism, President Maduro, who took office for a third term, sent conciliatory messages to the U.S. around the time of the Trump administration’s inauguration, expressing willingness to build a "win-win relationship." Venezuela’s alignment with President Trump’s policies was due to the severe economic hardship caused by strong U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first term.

This announcement is expected to cut off Venezuela’s financial lifeline once again. The U.S. is Venezuela’s largest customer for crude oil exports, and the oil industry is the main channel for foreign currency procurement.

The Maduro government, which has experienced worsening economic difficulties due to U.S. sanctions, has strongly opposed them, calling the "sanctions by the U.S.-led Western imperialism" an "economic war and illegal measure" aimed at incapacitating Venezuela.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.