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US government evaluates lifting sanctions on Venezuela that restrict oil production
The Joe Biden government is considering removing or relaxing sanctions on Venezuela so that it can produce oil in greater quantities and thus sell it on the international market.
All this in order to isolate Russia and replace imports of crude oil from the country that has currently invaded Ukraine.
It should be noted that on February 27, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia that range from those applied to individuals as well as to the country, in terms of restrictions on banking activities, with the exclusion of Russian banks of the SWIFT financial system one of the toughest.
Other sanctions are in the order of technology, of not exporting microprocessors and equipment necessary for the production of microchips and other high-tech products to the country governed by Putin.
Likewise, from Canada, the United States and the EU, airspace has been restricted, that is, Russian planes are not allowed to fly over, land or take off from these territories. At the television level , Russian state media have been prohibited from distributing their programming on television and the Internet from the EU and other measures.
Replace Russian oil with that of Venezuela?
In 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela in the oil area and closed the embassy in the South American country for not recognizing the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro in 2018 as legitimate.
Venezuela is part of Biden's plans to increase its oil production and replace that which came from Russia, in turn, it will facilitate the way for Washington and the European Union to impose sanctions on the Putin government in terms of exporting crude oil.
This weekend, the director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere, Juan González, and the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, traveled to Venezuela to start talks about sanctions and also about US citizens detained in that country.
The reactions were not long in coming. Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted over the weekend about this initiative by President Biden:
“Instead of producing more American oil, he wants to replace the oil we bought from one murderous dictator with oil from another murderous dictator.”
However, if oil production were increased in the US, even with all that, it would not be enough to offset the crude coming from Russia. For this reason, a trip by President Biden to Saudi Arabia is also being planned in the coming months in order to strengthen relations with the main oil-producing country.
For his part, this Sunday the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken reported that with these alternatives being explored, the United States and its allies are close to banning oil imports from Russia, which would be a measure that would notably harm the already devastated Russian economy.
