United States President Donald Trump has cancelled oil production concessions granted to Venezuela under his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has not made improvements in areas such as election reform and immigration enforcement.
“We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolas Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime,” the post reads.
In 2022, the Biden administration issued the US energy giant Chevron a licence to expand production in oil-rich Venezuela.
At the time, the US was taking cautious steps to lower tensions with the Maduro government, partly in the hope of spurring greater collaboration on energy.
Then, in October 2023, officials in Maduro’s administration signed a pair of deals called the Barbados Agreement, which affirmed its commitment to a free and fair election carried out under the observation of international election experts.
The US responded to that commitment by further relaxing oil sanctions against Venezuela’s economy.
But in the lead-up to Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, the Maduro government stepped up repressive actions targeting the country’s political opposition.
For example, it barred political rivals from running, including Maria Corina Machado and Corina Yoris, a professor who tried to replace Machado in the race.
Still, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez appeared on track to best Maduro at the ballot box, according to pre-election polls. But shortly after the vote on July 28, the country’s election authority announced Maduro had won, without providing the usual breakdown of voting tallies.
That break in tradition fuelled widespread allegations that Maduro had falsely claimed victory. Still, on January 10, Maduro was sworn into office for a third term.
Trump himself was inaugurated for a second term in the White House several days later, on January 20. But political observers questioned whether Trump’s new mandate in office would spell a different approach to Venezuela.
During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump subjected Venezuela to devastating sanctions and a campaign of “maximum pressure”. He even placed a $15m reward for information that would lead to Maduro’s arrest.
But during his campaign for a second term in office, Trump pursued a platform that included “mass deportation” — a proposal that required countries to be willing to take back migrants.
Earlier this month, Trump said Venezuela and the US reached an agreement to step up collaboration on immigration enforcement, allowing the US to deport some Venezuelans back to their home country.
Deportations to a person’s country of origin require the approval of authorities in the country to which they are being returned, something Venezuela had not previously granted.
Rights groups have criticised efforts to deport people back to Venezuela, where they could face persecution by the government, especially if they fled the country after deserting the armed forces.
The Trump administration has also sought to warehouse Venezuelan immigrants in Guantanamo Bay, a military base best known for its status as a detention and torture centre used to hold alleged combatants during the so-called war on terror.
While the government has described the Venezuelans held there as gang members and dangerous criminals, many have no serious criminal record, aside from immigration-related charges.
Several members of Trump’s current foreign policy team have a long history of hawkish statements on Venezuela. Some have even articulated ambitions to replace the Maduro government with one more friendly to US interests.
On Wednesday, for instance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave an interview to Fox News where he called Maduro a “horrible dictator”.
When asked whether he would demand that Maduro vacate the presidency, Rubio was ambiguous.
“Why would we want someone like that to be there?” Rubio asked. “We’re not going to discuss publicly what our work is going to be in that regard, but he remains the same threat today that he was two years ago, three years ago, four years ago. That’s going to have to be dealt with.”
