The United States welcomed the partial agreement and immediately relaxed the sanctions imposed on Venezuela. “We join the international community in welcoming the resumption of negotiations,” a government official said in Washington. The partial agreement is “an important step in the right direction”. The US Treasury Department granted US oil company Chevron limited permission to resume oil production in Venezuela.
According to the US Treasury Department, the partial agreement is “a humanitarian agreement focused on education, health, food safety, flood control and electricity.”
The talks between the government and the opposition are intended to settle a power struggle that has been ongoing since the controversial election in 2018. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro primarily insists on the lifting of international sanctions, while his opponents are demanding guarantees for free elections.
Since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, international efforts to resolve the crisis in oil-rich Venezuela have intensified. The US government announced in May that it would relax some sanctions against the government in Caracas. Washington had also given Caracas the prospect of easing further sanctions if a compromise was reached in talks with the opposition.
Dozens of countries, including the US and EU members, had described Maduro’s 2018 election as rigged. As a result, the opposition speaker at the time, Juan Guaidó, declared himself interim president. However, Maduro – supported by the military – was able to retain control in the country, which was suffering from a severe economic crisis.
