US 'May Lift Sanctions' on Venezuela, A Year After Seizing Their Gold
The Hill dutifully reports that the Biden administration might 'lift some Venezuela sanctions this week,' citing Reuters. This diplomatic benevolence comes after years of crippling sanctions imposed to oust Nicolas Maduro—a policy that, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, contributed to the deaths of over 100,000 Venezuelans between 2017 and 2018 alone. (CEPR Report, 2019).
One might charitably assume this newfound flexibility is driven by humanitarian concern, or perhaps less charitably, by the current global scramble for oil following other foreign policy misadventures. It certainly has nothing to do with the fact that the US, through allies like the UK, literally seized $1.5 billion of Venezuela’s gold reserves in 2022 (Reuters, 2022), or that CITGO, Venezuela’s
US-based oil refiner, is being liquidated to pay off debts incurred by the US-backed 'opposition' (AP, 2023). So, the US might give Venezuela a break now, after confiscating their national assets. Generosity or just a strategic pivot?