Venezuela's Machado calls for more US action against Maduro
June 18 (Reuters) - Washington needs to take further action against Venezuelan leader President Nicolas Maduro, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said, including enforcing sanctions and fighting criminal networks she says are connected to the government.
Machado was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election but is the country's most popular opposition figure.
Western countries and the opposition say Machado roundly won last year's election, while Maduro's government says he was re-elected but has not released detailed vote tallies.
"Would we like more action more quickly? Yes, yes," Machado, who has been in hiding for nearly a year, told Reuters in a Zoom interview late on Tuesday. "For the United States, Venezuela is a hemispheric security issue."
The 57-year-old industrial engineer, who urged her supporters to boycott recent legislative elections, said Maduro is the head of a "criminal enterprise."
"We're asking for law enforcement," said Machado about her position on what the United States, Canada, and Europe, among others, should do. "We need the international justice system to function because the justice system in Venezuela doesn't exist."
Machado said the opposition also urged the U.S. government and others in Europe to release information about the criminal networks allegedly connected to Maduro.
The United States has sanctioned several individuals in Maduro's government, levied drug trafficking indictments against many high-ranking members of Venezuela's government and military and Maduro himself, among other actions.
The U.S. revocation of Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela was a financial blow to Maduro, and Machado said cutting off financing was crucial to creating internal pressure against him.
Under the new authorization, Chevron can no longer operate in Venezuelan oil fields, export oil, or expand activities.
Maduro and his allies have always rejected sanctions, referring to them as "economic war" and hailing what they say is the success of the economy in spite of the measures.
Venezuela's government has increased taxes on the private sector since the Chevron license change to compensate for lost revenue, business leaders and analysts told Reuters this month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Reuters
US Treasury extends license protecting Citgo from creditors to December
June 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday extended a general license protecting Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum from creditors through December 20, the department's website showed, opens new tab. Washington has protected the Houston-based company from creditors in recent years even amid a court-organized auction of shares in its parent company, PDV Holding. Once selected, the auction's winner must be approved by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The license temporarily bans transactions with a Venezuela-issued bond collateralized with Citgo equity. The previous license was set to expire on July 3. As part of an eight-year case introduced by miner Crystallex against Venezuela, a federal court in Delaware has found Citgo's parent PDV Holding liable for Venezuela's debts stemming from debt defaults and asset expropriations. The auction, whose winner will by selected next month, is expected to compensate some of those creditors.
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Reuters
Serbia's NIS oil company seeks fourth sanctions waiver from US
June 20 (Reuters) - Russian-owned Serbian oil company NIS ( opens new tab has asked the United States for a fourth waiver from sanctions which could cut its crude supply, it said on Friday. NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab and Gazprom ( opens new tab, operates Serbia's only oil refinery. The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. NIS has so far secured three waivers, with the third one set to expire on June 27. On March 14, NIS submitted a request to the U.S. Treasury Department for its removal from the sanctions list, it said. "Despite the complex environment in which the company operates, NIS continues with regular supply of the domestic market with all kinds of oil derivatives, and remains devoted to maintaining social stability of its employees," the company said in a statement on its website. On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred a stake of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. Gazprom Neft owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government owns 29.87%, with small shareholders accounting for the rest. NIS imports about 80% of its oil needs through Croatia's pipeline operator Janaf. The remainder is covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia.
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Reuters
Switzerland lifts economic sanctions on Syria
ZURICH, June 20 (Reuters) - Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank. After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said. "The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement. After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said. Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added. The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the U.S. Treasury Department in the same month.
