Lawmaker Calls for Pausing All Oil Licenses for Venezuela

The chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere urged the Biden administration Sept. 20 to take further steps to cut the oil revenue the Venezuelan government has available to it to repress political dissent.

Despite recent U.S. government action against Venezuela’s oil sector, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remains flush with money from U.S. and European oil companies that operate in his country, Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., said.

“I believe that we have to put a pause on every oil license for Venezuela granted by the Treasury Department,” Salazar said at a subcommittee hearing. "Money means repression. No money means less repression."

Although the administration announced in April it would let Treasury’s general license for transactions with Venezuela’s state-owned energy company expire, it said the Office of Foreign Assets Control would consider requests for specific licenses on a case-by-case basis (see 2404170070). Salazar said the U.S. on Sept. 1 renewed a license for Chevron to operate in Venezuela.

Kevin Sullivan, deputy assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, didn't address Salazar's specific recommendation and said he could not discuss license applications, which are administered by Treasury, but he noted that Treasury on Sept. 12 sanctioned 16 Maduro-aligned officials it said obstructed the country’s recent presidential election (see 2409120028).

"We are going to continue to consider the whole range of sanctioning options that we have available based on what we see from Maduro, how the situation develops, as well as what we think is going to be the most effective response," Sullivan testified. After the hearing, Treasury and Chevron had no immediate comment.

Sullivan's remarks didn't satisfy Salazar, who said, "Sir, you're sending a very weak message to Maduro. I'm sure they're analyzing this hearing to the tee."

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, the ranking member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, suggested taking a carefully balanced approach toward Venezuela, saying the U.S. government's "total isolation" of the Cuban government for decades failed to bring about the desired change. "It's got to be calibrated and done the right way," Castro said. If sanctions go too far or not far enough, "the result's going to be bad."

Salazar said additional steps she favors include seizing the property of Maduro’s “buddies,” as “these assets are fruits of a poisonous tree with roots steeped in suffering.”

Salazar is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who recently proposed legislation that would create "democratic benchmarks" to guide the removal of sanctions on Venezuela (see 2408220050). The Venezuela Advancing Liberty, Opportunity and Rights Act (VALOR Act) also would codify financial sanctions on the Venezuelan Central Bank, state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela, and Venezuelan cryptocurrency.