White House Extends Permit for Liquefied Gas Exports to Venezuela (No Sanctions Relief)

Caracas, July 7, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—This Thursday, July 7, the United States Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), reported the extension of a permit—in the framework of US illegal sanctions—for liquefied petroleum gas exports to Venezuela. The original imperial permit was issued on July 12, 2021, labeled as General License No. 40.

Washington and Caracas have resumed a timid dialogue and contacts since last March, when a high-level US delegation met with President Maduro in Miraflores Palace after the illegal and ill-conceived US and European Union (EU) sanctions on Russia began to affect US and Europe’s economies. The thaw between the US and Venezuela comes after years of head-on confrontation—an indication that the two nations are heading towards a diplomatic normalization.

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El Departamento del Tesoro emitió un comunicado donde autoriza las exportaciones a Venezuela de gas licuado de petróleo hasta el 12 de julio de 2023. pic.twitter.com/ov0Ijl0bIv

— PDVSA TV (@Pdvsa_TV) July 7, 2022

On June 4, President Maduro celebrated “slight but significant steps” that the United States took by “providing licenses” for oil companies to operate in the South American country, as part of the economic sanctions relief announced by Washington.

That same day, Reuters reported that the Italian oil company Eni and Spanish oil company Repsol could start shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to offset the loss of Russian crude, resuming oil-for-debt swaps that halted more than two years ago when Washington tightened sanctions on Venezuela.

On June 27, President Maduro announced the arrival of another US delegation to Miraflores Palace and said that the president of the National Assembly (AN), Jorge Rodríguez, would receive the US delegation to continue discussing various issues. “At this time, Jorge Rodríguez is receiving an important delegation from the United States that arrived two hours ago and is working to continue the communications that began on March 5, as well as the bilateral agenda between the United States government and the government of Venezuela,” said the head of state.

Los primeros pasos que se han dado para tener una comunicación con el Gobierno de los EE.UU., han sido significativos. Mantendremos nuestras exigencias permanentes para que se levanten todas las sanciones crueles e inhumanas contra el Pueblo venezolano. pic.twitter.com/891w6Hk7Ws

— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) June 5, 2022

The text of the new OFAC general license states that:

All transactions and activities related to the exportation or reexportation, directly or indirectly, of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela, involving the Government of Venezuela, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), or any entity in which PdVSA owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest, that are prohibited … are authorized through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, July 12, 2023.

This general license does not authorize: (1) Any payment-in-kind of petroleum or petroleum products; or (2) Any transactions or activities otherwise prohibited by the ‘Venezuelan Sanctions Regulations’ (VSR), prohibited by any other part of 31 CFR chapter V, or involving any blocked persons other than PdVSA, any entity in which PdVSA owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest, or any Government of Venezuela person that is blocked solely pursuant to E.O. 13884.

Many reports and misreports have been circulating on mainstream media and local news outlets since March regarding an alleged relaxation of illegal sanctions towards Venezuela, but in practical terms the only real measures representing a change in the criminal battery of US sanctions against the Venezuelan people are the permits to Eni and Repsol, authorizing a limited oil-for-debt swap operation.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

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