WorldECR | The threat of renewed US sanctions looms

The U.S. government said it was “gravely concerned” about the results of Venezuela’s presidential election and would continue to evaluate its sanctions policy toward Venezuela. Venezuela’s incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and his political opponents both claimed victory amid allegations of fraud.

The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro’s ruling United Socialist Party, formally declared him the winner of the July 28 election, but opposition candidate Edmundo González also claimed victory.

“The Venezuelan people and the whole world know what happened,” Gonzalez said after Maduro formally declared victory. Maduro’s victory means his government, which is not recognized by the United States, will serve a third six-year term.

In Washington, two unnamed “senior officials” briefing reporters on the vote via a conference call the day after the vote said that “Maduro representatives have stripped any credibility of the so-called election results they announced.”

“We have serious concerns that this result does not reflect the will and vote of the Venezuelan people,” one official said.

Asked whether the United States would cancel individual sanctions licenses already granted to Chevron and other U.S. oil and gas companies, the official commented that “we are not considering retroactively changing previously issued licenses at this time.”

The official said the elections were held and opposition candidates were allowed to run because of U.S. sanctions. “Now we may be facing a new situation, and we will take that into account when planning the direction of sanctions against Venezuela,” the official told reporters.

Meanwhile, three congressional Republicans from Florida — Mario Diaz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Jiménez — sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration urging “targeted sanctions against individuals subverting Venezuela’s once-democratic system.”