Juan González, Biden's advisor on Western Hemispheric affairs and then senior director of the US National Security Council (NSC). File photo.
The presidential advisor to Joe Biden on Latin American affairs, Juan González, stated that Washington will continue its hostile policy of financial, economic and commercial blockade against Venezuela, and that the negotiations for the lifting of sanctions may eventually cease.
In an interview with US government-funded media Voice of America, González clarified that the US policy regarding Venezuela remains the same.
“What we are trying to create here are incentives for them [the government of Venezuela] to take a different route, but that window is going to close eventually,” he said.
The Biden administration has repeatedly set several conditions for the lifting of sanctions against Venezuela, among which is holding so-called “free and fair elections.”
Biden’s advisor stated that the US government supports “any dialogue that exists between the Unitary Platform [of the far-right opposition] and the Venezuelan government” for reactivating the Mexico Talks.
#NUEVO: EEUU asegura que “incentivos” a Maduro cesarían “eventualmente". @Cartajuanero dice que "expertos electorales verían que, en cierto punto, va a ser muy difícil tener una elección libre y justa” en #Venezuela. Más en @VozdeAmerica: https://t.co/rN92tH8Yvz pic.twitter.com/v8ExTJw92Y
— Jorge Agobian (@JorgeAgobian) July 20, 2023
However, he did not mention anything about the condition set by the Venezuelan government as a prerequisite to resume the dialogue, which is the release of Venezuelan special envoy to Iran, Alex Saab, from US prison. The Venezuelan government suspended the dialogue after the US kidnapped Saab from Cape Verde in October 2021.
When questioned about the possibility of the US imposing more sanctions against Venezuela, González claimed that its illegal blockade against Venezuela is “one of the most robust in the world,” and that adding more sanctions “will not change the status quo.”
This statement may be considered as a refusal to Juan Guaidó’s recent request for more unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela. After fleeing to the US, he urged the “international community” to request the United States for more sanctions “to protect the opposition primaries.”
Criminal Sanctions: Washington Extends Authorization of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Exports to Venezuela
According to Guaidó, sanctions are the “tool” that the opposition has to use against the Venezuelan government.
Meanwhile, the international community promoted a dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition during the CELAC-EU Summit in Brussels, where delegates from the two political sectors held a meeting, with the mediation of the presidents of France, Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina.
Regarding this meeting, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced that the government and the opposition both emphasized that unjustified sanctions must be lifted.
“They agreed that the unjustified, immoral, illegal and criminal sanctions against the Venezuelan people should be lifted,” the president said.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
